Beach Morphology and Coastline Evolution in the Southern Bohai Strait

The beach studied in this paper spans a length of 51 km and is one of several long sandy beaches in the southern Bohai Strait. Due to the obstruction of islands in the northeast and the influence of the underwater topography, the wave environment in the offshore area is complex; beach types and sediment transport characteristics vary along different coasts. The coastlines extracted from six aerial photographs in different years were compared to demonstrate the evolving features. Seven typical beach profiles were selected to study the lateral beach variation characteristics. Continuous wind and wave observation data from Beihuangcheng ocean station during 2009 were employed for the hindcast of the local wave environment using a regional spectral wave model. Then the results of the wave hindcast were incorporated into the LITDRIFT model to compute the sediment transport rates and directions along the coasts and analyze the longshore sand movement. The results show that the coastline evolution of sand beaches in the southern Bohai Strait has spatial and temporal variations and the coast can be divided into four typical regions. Region(I), the north coast of Qimudao, is a slightly eroded and dissipative beach with a large sediment transport rate; Region(II), the southwest coast of Gangluan Port, is a slightly deposited and dissipative beach with moderate sediment transport rate; Region(III), in the central area, is a beach that is gradually transformed from a slightly eroded dissipative beach to a moderately or slightly strong eroded bar-trough beach from west to east with a relatively moderate sediment transport rate. Region(IV), on the east coast, is a strongly eroded and reflective beach with a weak sediment transport rate. The wave conditions exhibit an increasing trend from west to east in the offshore area. The distribution of the wave-induced current inside the wave breaking region and the littoral sediment transport in the nearshore region exhibit a gradual weakening tendency from west to east, which is opposite to the trend of the wave conditions outside the breaking region. The presence of submerged shoal(Dengzhou Shoal), deep trough(Dengzhou Channel), islands and irregular topography influnces the wave climate, beach types, wave-induced current features, littoral sediment transport trends and coastline evolution patterns in the southern Bohai Strait. Human activities, such as the sand exploitation of Dengzhou Shoal and other coastal engineering projects, also influence the beach morphology and coastline evolution.     

Short-term morphological changes after sand-digging during a sand sculpture activity

The morphology of the beach backshore and foreshore at Huiquan Bay, Qingdao, China, is characterized by a single intertidal sandbar system with a spring tide range of 4.59 m. The beach was measured with a laser total station of Leica TPS402. Contours of the beach were generated using data collected in March and November 2005. The survey method provided 2 mm measuring accuracy and 4–10 m horizontal spacing. The net accretion volume of the foreshore was about 11, 215 m³ from March to November. After sand sculpture activity, the axis of the sand trough migrated onshore from about 3.5 m to 17.5 m on the foreshore beach in November. At the same time, the axis of the sandbar crest migrated onshore no more than 42.25 m on the northwest foreshore; and it migrated offshore no more than 23.75 m on the southeast foreshore. On the northwest and southeast foreshore beach, two strips of erosion areas with a thickness of 0–0.2 m appeared on the sandbar crest. Accretion occurred at the bottom of the sand trough with a thickness of ∼0.2–0.6 m. The sandbar height decreased after sand sculpture activity, and it was no more than 0.7 m in March and 0.6 m in November. Human activities, such as sand digging on the sandbar crest during sand sculpture activity, also can disturb the beach morphology of intertidal bar systems. This phenomenon also was validated by comparison of beach morphology, the results of a color artificial tracer experiment and a sediment transportation trend prediction.     

Influence of Headland Breakwaters on Morphological Processes at Longfengtou Beach in Haitan Bay,Facing the Taiwan Strait

Breakwaters can be used as artificial headlands in beach nourishment to mitigate coastal erosion. Longfengtou Beach, located on the southwest coast of Haitan Bay facing the Taiwan Strait on the northeast, suffers severe erosion, where the monsoon causes significant season hydrodynamic variations. Headland breakwaters are intended to be employed to mitigate coastal erosion. A 2D sediment transport model is established using MIKE21 based on current-wave coupling and calibrated by measured data. Summer and winter wave conditions are chosen as characteristic weak and strong waves respectively. The numerical results of suspended sediment concentration and seasonal morphological evolution are compared under the conditions with and without the headland breakwaters. Sediment transport in summer can be regarded as mainly determined by current field, while in winter wave effect is strong enough to change current field. The northern breakwater, nearly perpendicular to the ebb current direction, obstructs the currents and decreases velocity of the ebb currents, and confines the water carrying sediments within the protection area during the flood period. The southern breakwater also breaks the waves in advance and significantly reduces the hydrodynamic effects during the flood period and maintains high suspended sediment concentration in the protection area. In general, two headland breakwaters decrease the erosion near the beach and enlarge the deposition area, which play a significant role in prevention of sediment loss in nearshore area and mitigate coastal erosion.     

Dynamical Control of Asymmetrically Oblique Tidal Currents to the Sedimentary Characteristics and Development of Linear Sand Ridges in the Liaodong Shoal,East Bohai Sea

The Liaodong Shoal is a group of linear sand ridges located in the east Bohai Sea of China.In this study,54 surface sediment samples have been collected,current measurements at 4 stations have been carried out and bathymetric data were obtained.The current directions are rightward deflected relative to the strikes of the sand ridges.Affected by the narrowing effect of the ridge,the current velocities exhibited an anti-‘C’type vertical profile.The velocities of the lower currents linearly correlate with the water depths.The near-bed current velocities over the troughs are estimated to be higher than those over the ridges,and this feature could be explained by the loss of kinetic energy together with the conversion between kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy.The sedimentary characteristics that are compatible with the tidal dynamics are developed across the ridges and troughs,including grain size compositions,grain size parameters,mineral compositions and Dhm indexes.The existence of the angles between the current directions and the strikes of the sand ridges is the key factor for the growth of the sand ridges.The asymmetric hydrodynamic features between the flood and ebb currents lead to the differences in the topographical and sedimentary characteristics on both sides of a sand ridge.Insufficient material supply led to the degradation of the sand ridges,and the reduction of the tidal current intensity has led to the development of the subordinate sand ridges in the troughs.Sand ridges are migrating.     

Numerical modeling of local scour around hydraulic structure in sandy beds by dynamic mesh method

Local scour, a non-negligible factor in hydraulic engineering, endangers the safety of hydraulic structures. In this work, a numerical model for simulating local scour was constructed, based on the open source code computational fluid dynamics model OpenFOAM. We consider both the bedload and suspended load sediment transport in the scour model and adopt the dynamic mesh method to simulate the evolution of the bed elevation. We use the finite area method to project data between the three-dimensional flow model and the two-dimensional (2D) scour model. We also improved the 2D sand slide method and added it to the scour model to correct the bed bathymetry when the bed slope angle exceeds the angle of repose. Moreover, to validate our scour model, we conducted and compared the results of three experiments with those of the developed model. The validation results show that our developed model can reliably simulate local scour.     

STUDY ON PREDICTION FOR TRANSPORT AND DIFFUSION OF DREDGED MATTER IN JIAOZHOU BAY, CHINA

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Field measurements of influence of sand transport rate on structure of wind-sand flow over coastal transverse ridge

The structure of wind-sand flow under different total sand transport rates was measured with field vertical anemometer and sand trap on the crest of typical coastal transverse ridge in Changli Gold Coast of Hebei Province, which is one of the most typical coastal aeolian distribution regions in China and famous for the tall and typical coastal transverse ridges. The measurement results show that, on the conditions of approximate wind velocities and same surface materials and environments, some changes happen to the structure of wind-sand flow with the increase of total sand transport rate on the crest of coastal transverse ridge. First, the sand transport rates of layers at different heights in the wind-sand flow increase, with the maximum increase at the height layer of 4-8cm. Second, the ratios of sand transport rates of layers at different heights to total sand transport rate decrease at the low height layer （0-4cm）, but increase at the high height layer （4-60cm）. Third, the distribution of the sand transport rate in the wind-sand flow can be expressed by an exponential function at the height layer of 0-40cm, but it changes from power function model to exponential function model in the whole height layer （0-60cm） and changes into polynomial function model at the height layer of 40-60cm with the increase of total sand transport rate. Those changes have a close relationship with the limit of sand grain size of wind flow transporting and composition of sand grain size in the wind-sand flow.     

Sediment transport in the nearshore area of Phoenix Island

Based on the measured data, suspended sediment concentration, surface sediment grain size, current and waves, the sediment transport mechanisms and pathways in the Phoenix Island area were analyzed using methods of flux decomposition and Grain Size Trend Analysis (GSTA). The results show that net suspended sediment is mainly transported by average current, Stokes drift, and gravitational circulation. The transport direction of suspended sediment is varying and basically following the direction of residual tidal currents. Surface sediment transport pathways are primarily parallel to the coastline along with two convergent centers. Waves and longshore currents have a significant influence on sediment transport, but the influence is limited due to a steep and deep underwater bank. Tidal current is the main controlling factor for sediment transport, especially in the deep water area. Neither suspended nor surface sediment is transported towards the southwest. The South Shandong Coastal Current (SSCC) has little effect on sediment transport processes in the nearshore area of Phoenix Island.     

SEDIMENTARY ENVIRONMENT IN TAIWAN SHOAL

Taiwan Shoal sediments are well sorted and rounded medium-coarse sands eontaining a large amount of shell and beach rock fragments and basalt gravels, and are of deltaic, coastal and eolian origin. Underwater sand waves are formed by the combined tidal currents and are remolded by storm waves.     

STUDY ON PREDICTION FOR TRANSPORT AND DIFFUSION OF DREDGED MATYER IN JIAOZHOU BAY, CHINA

The finite-element method was used to simulate the currents of Jiaozhou Bay and the nearcoast areas, and then established the model of the transport and diffusion of suspended particulate matter there. The transport and diffusion of dredged matter near the discharging field were estimated ; and the results were used to analyze the effects of the suspended particulate matter on the marine environment.     

SEDIMENT TRANSPORT IN YALU RIVER ESTUARY

Tidal cycle measurements of tidal currents, salinity and water temperature, and suspended sediment concentra-tions were measured at four stations, together with surveys along two profdes short core collection within the Yalu River estuary.Grain size analysis of the three core sed~ment showed that: 1 ) the sediment from B1 to B3 became finer, worse sorting andpositively skewed; 2) the diversification of matter origin became more and more evident from east to west; 3) the sedimenta overthe region were of the same origin, as indicated by their similar colors and grain sizes. The data indicated that stratification occurred in the flood season, from upstream to downstream, and a salt wedge was formed. The water column was well mixed, butthe longitudinal gradient of the salinity was larger on spring tide. The resulta also showed that the dominating mechanism ofsuspended sediment transport in the Yalu River estuary was T1, T2, T3 and T5. The non-tidal steady advection transport wasrestricted by the net transport of suspended sediment induced by mass Stoked drift directed to landwards, then the net sedimenttransport rate were decreased and the turbidity maxima was also favored to forming and extending.     

Suspended sediment transport and deposition in the Zhoushan Archipelago sea area

The transport mechanism and settlement characteristics of suspended sediments are analyzed in this article on the basis of measured data. Results indicate that the concentration and flux of suspended sediments decrease sharply from Hangzhou Bay to the offshore area. Suspended sediment transport is mainly controlled by advection transport and gravitational circulation transport. The settling velocity of suspended sediments gradually decreases from Hangzhou Bay to the offshore area. The settlement of suspended sediments mainly takes place during the turning phase of the tidal currents.     

辽东湾海岸地貌近代演化特征

辽东湾海岸类型及其分布受区域地质构造控制。海岸类型可分为:港湾型基岩海岸、岛礁型基岩海岸、岬湾型沙质海岸、平原型淤泥质海岸等4类;潮间带地貌分为海滩、潮滩、岩滩3类;水下堆积地貌主要有水下三角洲及潮下浅滩。受河流输沙影响,淤积先从河口开始,然后向外围扩散。在湾顶部,地貌及内、外动力条件利于海岸淤涨,但受滨岸海洋水文条件制约,发展不均衡,可出现局部短时间的侵蚀后退现象。海岸工程可控制海岸的演化过程,滩涂地带引种植物可促进海岸持续淤涨。     

Determining suspended sediment concentration and settling velocity from PC-ADP measurements in the Beibu Gulf, China

Modeling sediment transport depends on several parameters, such as suspended sediment concentration (SSC), shear stress, and settling velocity. To assess the ability of Pulse-Coherent Acoustic Doppler Profiling (PC-ADP) to non-intrusively quantify spatial and temporal SSC and settling velocity at seabed, a field experiment was conducted in the Beibu Gulf (Tonkin Gulf), in the South China Sea. The spatial profiles and temporal variations in SSC at 1 m above bottom were derived from PC-ADP acoustic backscatter intensity determinations after being calibrated with the optical backscatter sensor (OBS) measurements at the same elevation. The PC-ADP and OBS results agreed well. The temporal settling velocity obtained from Rouse profiles agreed well with the Soulsby formula based on size information by LISST (laser in situ scattering and transmissometry). Tides and tidal currents are diurnal in the gulf. SSC increased with increasing ebb and flood flow, and it rapidly decreased with the increase of distance from the seabed. The maximum SSC at 0.16 m and 1.3 m above bottom reached 816 mg/L and 490 mg/L during spring tides, respectively. The sediments consisted of mineral particles 23-162 μm in diameter and 0.05-2.04 cm/s in settling velocity. Generally, both the SSC and settling velocity followed variations in the bottom friction. Results suggest that PC-ADP is able to provide reasonable SSC and settling velocity measurements of both profiles and time series for a long study period.     

Characteristics of Light Transmission in Summer and Winter and Its Relation to Sediment Transport in the East China Sea

INTRODUCTIONTheSubeiShoalandtheChangjiangRiverestuarineareainthewestoftheHuanghaiandEastChinaSeasisoneofthemarginalseasintheworld ,wheresuspendedmatterisextremelyhigh .Here ,notonlyistheretheTaiwanWarmCurrentoneoftheKuroshio’sbranchesintheEastChinaSea,butalsotheHuanghaiCoastalCurrent,andChangjiangDilutedWater.Sothestrongmixingbetweenthecoastalandoffshorewaterscomplicatessuspendedmatterdistributioninthisarea.HowthesuspendedmatterdischargedfromtheChangjiangRiverandtheabandonedHuan…     

Suspended sediment transport analysis in two Italian instrumented catchments

Suspended sediment transport in streams is an effective indicator of soil erosion at the watershed scale. This process was studied using the data obtained from two continuous monitoring stations installed in Italian watersheds, the Rio Cordon and Torrente Carapelle. The catchments have substantially different climatic, morphological and land use characteristics. The Rio Cordon, a small Alpine watershed, has been monitored since 1986, while in the Torrente Carapelle, a medium-size Mediterranean watershed, the monitoring station has provided data since 2007. Several flood events with suspended sediment transport were isolated in the two catchments, excluding those determined by snowmelt in the Rio Cordon as this process does not affect the Carapelle watershed. Analysis of the events showed different behavior in terms of hysteresis loop trends between water discharge (m³ s^-1) and suspended sediment concentration (g l^-1) values, as the Rio Cordon confirms clockwise relationships most frequently, while counter-clockwise trends represent the majority of cases for the Carapelle Torrent. The different behavior of the two watersheds was further analyzed by evaluating relationships between the main hydrological parameters related to suspended sediment transport. Runoff controls the total sediment budget in both catchments. In contrast, it was noted that the runoff process does not interfere in the magnitude of the suspended sediment transport in the Rio Cordon catchment, while variations due to the larger size of the catchment area characterize the events in the Carapelle watershed. Lastly, a flow peak threshold that determines the advance or delay of the hydrograph peak with respect to the sedigraph peak was established for the Carapelle Torrent, while it was not reported in the Rio Cordon.     

Geostrophic meridional transport in tropical Northwest Pacific based on Argo profiles

Absolute geostrophic currents in the North Pacific Ocean were calculated using P-vector method from newly gridded Argo profiling float data collected during 2004–2009. The meridional volume transport of geostrophic currents differed significantly from the classical Sverdrup balance, with differences of 10×10⁶–20×10⁶m³/s in the interior tropical Northwest Pacific Ocean. Analyses showed that errors of wind stress estimation could not explain all of the differences. The largest differences were found in the areas immediately north and south of the bifurcation latitude of the North Equatorial Current west of the dateline, and in the recirculation area of the Kuroshio and its extension, where nonlinear eddy activities were robust. Comparison of the geostrophic meridional transport and the wind-driven Sverdrup meridional transport in a high-resolution OFES simulation showed that nonlinear effects of the ocean circulation were the most likely reason for the differences. It is therefore suggested that the linear, steady wind-driven dynamics of the Sverdrup theory cannot completely explain the meridional transport of the interior circulation of the tropical Northwest Pacific Ocean.     

Characteristics of Light Transmission in Summer and Winter and Its Relation on Sediment Transport in the East China Sea

Light transmission data collected from June to July 1987 and from February to March 1997 by the R/V Kexue 1 in the East China Sea were used to analyze its distribution characteristics and its relation to the sediment transport in this sea. Some results obtained were: (1) The Taiwan Warm Current flowing northwards seemed to be a barrier preventing suspended matter discharged from the Changjiang River Estuary from continuously moving southeastward and causing the suspended matter to flow along a path near 123°30′E in summer and 123°00′E in winter. (2) Suspended matter in the area adjacent to the Changjiang River Estuary could not be transported southward along the coast in summer due to opposing offshore currents including the Taiwan Warm Current flowing northward and the Changjiang Diluted Water turning northeastward. (3) The thermocline and temperature front bar suspended matter from crossing through.     

Numerical Study of Water and Suspended Matter Exchange Between the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea

INTRODUCTIONTheYellowSeaandtheEastChinaSea (ECS)aremarginalseasofthenorthwestPacificandhaveexpansivecontinentalshelves .TheuniqueandstrikingfeaturesoftheYellowSeaandtheECSarethattheyhavestrongtidalcurrent;aresubjecttostrongmonsooninfluence ;andreceiveinflowfromthebiggestriverinChina ,theChangjiangRiver ;andthatthefamouswesternboundarycurrent,theKuroshio ,passesthroughtheECS ,withitsbranchesintrudingupwardintothecontinentalshelfareas.Generallyspeaking ,thewaterexchangecapacityofthe…     

Behavior of different phosphorus species in suspended particulate matter in the Changjiang estuary

Suspended particulate matter (SPM) collected in the Changjiang (Yangtze River) estuary in June 2006 was separated into five fractions via water elutriation: clay-very fine silt (<8 μm), fine silt (8–16 μm), medium silt (16–32 μm), coarse silt (32-63 μm) and sand (>63 μm). The SPM and fractionated particles were sequentially analyzed by a modified SEDEX sequential extraction method to obtain six species of phosphorus: exchangeable or loosely-sorbed P, organic P, Fe-bound P, authigenic P, detrital P and refractory P. The results indicated that all particulate phosphorus species except for detrital P were negatively correlated to particle size; a high detrital P content was found in coarse silt and very coarse silt. From the inside of the river mouth to the gate of the river mouth, organic P, Fe-bound P and refractory P in the suspended particles decreased and a higher amount of exchangeable P appeared around the gate of the river mouth. From the gate of the river mouth to the sea, exchangeable P and organic P in suspended particles increased distinctly. The total particulate P flux into the estuary from the Changjiang River was about 45.45×10⁸ μmol/s during sampling. Of this, about 8.27×10⁸ μmol/s was associated with the “truly suspended” fraction. The bio-available particulate P flux was about 13.58×10⁸ μmol/s. Of this, about 4.24×10⁸ μmol/s was transported by “truly suspended” particles.