Home▸Hydrology▸Tidal Estuary Salt Wedge Lab

🌊 Tidal Estuary Salt Wedge Lab

Interactive 3D estuary cross-section where a dense salty wedge slides upstream beneath lighter river water as the tide rises, then retreats as it falls, revealing how flow and mixing shape estuary type.

Hydrology3DModerate60 FPS

This simulation demonstrates how a dense salt wedge advances upstream along a river channel bottom as the tide floods, then retreats as it ebbs, and how the balance of river flow and tidal strength changes the wedge's shape and mixing sharpness.

🔬 What It Demonstrates

🎮 How to Use

Choose an estuary mixing regime from the dropdown, adjust the tidal cycle speed, and watch the salty bottom layer (teal) and fresh top layer (blue) slide against each other while the stats report the current tide phase and wedge extent.

💡 Did You Know?

During severe droughts, saltwater intrusion in large river deltas has advanced over 100 kilometers upstream, forcing cities to barge in fresh water to protect drinking-water intakes.

⚙ Under the hood

Interactive 3D estuary cross-section where a dense salty wedge slides upstream beneath lighter river water as the tide rises, then retreats as it falls.

tidal-estuarysalt-wedgeestuarine-mixingriver-flowhydrologygeology

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install