The controlling factors of high suspended sediment concentration in the intertidal flat off the Huanghe River Estuary

Bowen Li; Yonggang Jia; J. Paul Liu; Jianfeng Su; Xiaolei Liu; Mingzheng Wen

doi:10.1007/s13131-020-1679-9

Volume 39 Issue 10

Oct. 2020

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Article Navigation > Acta Oceanologica Sinica > 2020 > 39(10): 96-106

Bowen Li, Yonggang Jia, J. Paul Liu, Jianfeng Su, Xiaolei Liu, Mingzheng Wen. The controlling factors of high suspended sediment concentration in the intertidal flat off the Huanghe River Estuary[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2020, 39(10): 96-106. doi: 10.1007/s13131-020-1679-9

Citation:

Bowen Li, Yonggang Jia, J. Paul Liu, Jianfeng Su, Xiaolei Liu, Mingzheng Wen. The controlling factors of high suspended sediment concentration in the intertidal flat off the Huanghe River Estuary[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2020, 39(10): 96-106. doi: 10.1007/s13131-020-1679-9

Citation:

Bowen Li, Yonggang Jia, J. Paul Liu, Jianfeng Su, Xiaolei Liu, Mingzheng Wen. The controlling factors of high suspended sediment concentration in the intertidal flat off the Huanghe River Estuary[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2020, 39(10): 96-106. doi: 10.1007/s13131-020-1679-9

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The controlling factors of high suspended sediment concentration in the intertidal flat off the Huanghe River Estuary

doi: 10.1007/s13131-020-1679-9

Bowen Li^{1, 3},
Yonggang Jia^{1, 2
,
,},
J. Paul Liu³,
Jianfeng Su^{3, 4},
Xiaolei Liu^{1, 2},
Mingzheng Wen⁵

1.
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Geological Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China
2.
Laboratory for Marine Geology, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao), Qingdao 266237, China
3.
Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
4.
State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
5.
Tianjin Center, China Geological Survey, Tianjin 300170, China

Funds: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41072215 and 41877223; the Key Science and Technology Plan of Power China Huadong Engineering Corporation Limited under contract No. KY2018-ZD-01; the Joint Fund of NSFC and Marine Science Research Centers of Shandong Province of China under contract No. U1906230; the Marine Geological Survey Project of the China Geological Survey under contract No. GZH201100203.

More Information

Corresponding author: E-mail: yonggang@ouc.edu.cn
Received Date: 2020-05-21
Accepted Date: 2020-06-29

Available Online: 2020-12-28

Publish Date: 2020-10-25

Abstract

Abstract

The Huanghe River (Yellow River) is known by its high suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in its river mouth tidal flat. However, the factors controlling the high SSC over there are not well understood. Therefore, we conducted 7-d hydrodynamic observations (water depth, wave height, and current velocity) and SSC measurements on the tidal flat off the Huanghe River Mouth. The data shows that in most of time, under the calm sea condition, the SSC ranges 0.1–3.5 g/L, and sediment discharge from the river is the main source. However, when hydrodynamics are enhanced in a tidal cycle and large-scale erosion occurs on the seafloor, resuspended sediment becomes the main source, and the SSC in the water column reaches 17.3 g/L. We find the suspended sediment flux is mainly controlled by the tidal current and Stokes drift, while the wave-induced shear stress could also affect the variation of suspended sediment flux. During the observation period, when sea under calm-rippled conditions, the current-induced resuspended sediment concentration (RSC) was greater than the wave-induced RSC. In contrast, in smooth-wavelet sea conditions, the wave-induced RSC was greater than the current-induced RSC, for instance, a single wave event was found to cause 11.8 cm seabed erosion within 6 h. This study reveals different controlling factors for the high SSC near a river-influenced tidal flat, and helps us get a better understanding of a delta's depositional and erosional mechanisms.
- Huanghe River (Yellow River),
- sediment re-suspension,
- sediment transport,
- wave,
- current,
- in-situ observation

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References(57)

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