Impacts of human interventions on the seasonal and nodal dynamics of the M2 and K1 tidal constituents in Lingdingyang Bay of the Zhujiang River Delta,China

Natural and human-induced changes may exert considerable impacts on the seasonal and nodal dynamics of M₂ and K₁ tidal constituents. Therefore, quantifying the influences of these factors on tidal regime changes is essential for sustainable water resources management in coastal environments. In this study, the enhanced harmonic analysis was applied to extract the seasonal variability of the M₂ and K₁ tidal amplitudes and phases at three gauging stations along Lingdingyang Bay of the Zhujiang River Delta. The seasonal dynamics in terms of tidal wave celerity and amplification/damping rate were used to quantify the impacts of human-induced estuarine morphological alterations on M₂ and K₁ tidal hydrodynamics in inner and outer Lingdingyang Bay. The results show that both tidal amplification/damping rate and wave celerity were considerably increased from the pre-anthropogenic activity period (Pre-AAP) to the post-anthropogenic activity period (Post-AAP) excepting the tidal amplification/damping rate in outer Lingdingyang Bay, and the variations in outer Lingdingyang Bay was larger than those in inner Lingdingyang Bay. The alterations in these two parameters were more significant in flood season than in dry season in both inner and outer Lingdingyang Bay. The seasonal variability of M₂ and K₁ tidal amplitudes were further quantified using a regression model accounting for the 18.61-year lunar nodal modulation, where this study observes a considerable alteration in M₂ constituent owing to human interventions. During the Post-AAP, the M₂ amplitudes at the downstream station were larger than those that would have occurred in the absence of strong human interventions, whereas the opposite was true for the upstream station, leading to a substantial decrease in tidal amplification in outer Lingdingyang Bay. However, it is opposite in inner Lingdingyang Bay. The underlying mechanism can be primarily attributed to channel deepening and narrowing caused by human interventions, that resulted in substantial enlargement of the bay volume and reduced the effective bottom friction, leading to faster wave celerity and stronger amplified waves.