WORLD DELTAS AND THEIR EVOLUTION

In August 1998, an international symposium on the world deltas was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. This symposium attracted discussion about more than 25 deltas from around the world with emphasis placed on those that are most densely populated and impacted by humans. Keynote papers printed details about the physical, biological, engineering and socioeconomic aspects of six deltas including the Mississippi, Nile, Ganges-Brahmaputra, Rhine-Meuse, Changjiang and Po. The main purpose of this symposium was to inform scientists, engineers and decision-makers about information that is currently available and to provide them a basis for working in such environments.     

A preliminary study on sediment flux in the Changjiang Delta during the postglacial period

During the last 7000 years since the Changjiang Delta was formed, how much sediment brought by the Changjiang River remained in the modern Changjiang Delta? And how much sediment was delivered into the sea and adjacent coasts? These are very important que…     

CLOBAL CHARM OF THE CHANGJIANG RIVER DELTA

1SPLENDOROFHISTORICALCULTURE InChina,theChangjiang(Yangtze)RiverDelta①gen-erallymeansanadvancedproductivityandculture,whichaffectsdeeplynotonlythewholeChinabutal-sotheAsian-Pacificregion,evenEuropeandAfrica. 1.1CradlefortheCommunicationandPropagationofCivilization ThedevelopmentcourseoftheChangjiangRiverDelta'scultureisdevious,buttheNeolithicHemuduCultureexcavatedinYuyaoCityofZhejiangProvinceindicatestheadvancedpaddyriceculture;MajiabangCulture5000aB.P.andEastBridgeRuin…     

Environmental transformation of the Bilbao estuary,N. Spain: microfaunal and geochemical proxies in the recent sedimentary record

The distribution and abundance of benthic foraminifera and a range of elements have been analysed in six long cores (up to 10 m long) from the Bilbao estuary, N. Spain, to document environmental transformation of this estuarine ecosystem and to determine sediment contamination levels. Three different environmental zones could be distinguished in the recent sedimentary record based on its microfaunal and geochemical contents. Initially, a pre-industrial zone containing very abundant and diverse foraminiferal assemblages together with baseline metal levels. Secondly, an older industrial zone exhibiting co-existence of abundant and diverse foraminiferal assemblages with high concentrations of metals. Finally, a younger industrial zone with extreme concentrations of metals and barren of indigenous foraminifera. This environmental transformation has been caused by the discharge of untreated domestic and industrial effluents during the last 150 years. The occurrence of foraminifera in the two industrial zones and along the estuary is not related to defined levels of metals, and this seems to confirm oxygen limitation as the key factor to explain complete estuarine defaunation during deposition of the younger industrial zone (period 1950-2000). Effectiveness of current regeneration schemes could be assessed using microfaunal and geochemical proxies as environmental quality indicators.     

Landsat-TM遥感影像岸线变迁解译研究--以九龙江河口地区为例

利用遥感与GIS技术相合的手段，在分析九龙江河口地区地物波谱的基础上，对研究区两期遥感影像（1986年6月与2000年5月的陆地卫星Landsat—TM资料）进行解译和岸线提取。通过与20世纪70年代的地形图进行对比分析，发现九龙江北、西溪过河口大沙洲后分成北、中、南3个支流入海，其中以浒茂洲两侧的支流岸线变化最大；海门岛至口门段河口两侧岸线也有不同程度的变化；厦门西港海区是本研究区岸线变化最大的区域。文章最后对岸线变迁和河口淤积进行了初步的分析。     

三峡水库初期蓄水对长江口淡水资源的影响

2003年6月1~15日和同年10月20~31日三峡水库进行了初期蓄水。6月份水库蓄水后使下游大通流量减少了37%,长江口的淡水资源的持续时数降低了40%,最大盐度增加了3倍,平均盐度增加了6倍;10月份水库蓄水使大通流量减少了1/2,淡水资源的持续时间呈现下降趋势,最大盐度增加了3倍左右,平均盐度也有类似的表现。再从流量的沿程变化、流量的变化程度、影响河口淡水的持续时间、河口淡水资源影响因子方面进行了讨论,认为三峡蓄水是这两次河口淡水资源减少的主要原因。     

Decreasing Reference Evapotranspiration in a Warming Climate—A Case of Changjiang (Yangtze) River Catchment During 1970–2000

This study deals with temporal trends in the Penman-Monteith reference evapotranspiration estimated from standard meteorological observations, observed pan evaporation, and four related meteorological variables during 1970–2000 in the Yangtze River catchment. Relative contributions of the four meteorological variables to changes in the reference evapotranspiration are quantified. The results show that both the reference evapotranspiration and the pan evaporation have significant decreasing trends in the upper, the middle as well as in the whole Changjiang (Yangtze) River catchment at the 5% significance level, while the air temperature shows a significant increasing trend. The decreasing trend detected in the reference evapotranspiration can be attributed to the significant decreasing trends in the net radiation and the wind speed.     

GRAPES模式对长江流域天气预报的检验分析

GRAPES是中国新一代数值天气预报模式。使用GRAPES中尺度模式产品和常规观测资料,分析检验了2005、2006年汛期发生在长江流域的11次主要降水天气过程,得到:GRAPES模式对于长江流域的预报,无论是降水、天气形势还是物理量都有比较强的预报能力;GRAPES模式对级别较大的降水预报容易出现漏报,而不易出现空报,对于10mm以下的雨区预报比较准确,而对于大于50mm的雨区预报,尤其是大于100mm的降水中心存在较大的偏差;对于西太平洋副热带高压的预报比实际情况偏南、偏东;对于水汽通量散度的预报与实际情况比较吻合。     

珠江三角洲近期水沙分配的变化及其影响与对策

近20多年，珠江三角洲西江与北江的水沙分配发生了重大变化，相当于增多了一条北江的水量和沙量向东输送，导致珠江三角洲腹心地区洪峰水位异常壅高，河道由淤转冲，口门水域面积缩小，滩涂面积扩展，伶仃洋尤其是西岸的淤积加速，对港口和航道有较大影响。     

Application of Two Turbulence Closure Schemes in the Modelling of Tidal Currents and Salinity in the Hooghly Estuary

This paper has two purposes. The first is to study the circulation and salinity in Hooghly Estuary, along the east coast of India and the second is to compare the performance of two turbulence closure schemes by modelling it. A breadth averaged numerical model using a sigma co-ordinate system in the vertical is briefly described. Vertical diffusion of momentum and salt are parameterized by a simple first-order turbulent closure or by a one equation model for turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) which uses a specified mixing length. The results are compared with the available neap and spring tide observations along the estuary for both low and high discharge periods.The computed elevations and currents are in reasonable agreement with the observations showing no major differences in vertical current profiles by both the turbulent schemes. However, there is a slight under-prediction of bottom currents. The salinity profiles predicted by TKE model show better matching with observations. Statistical tests are also conducted to study the comparative performance of the turbulent closure schemes. The maintenance of two layer structure in residual currents and salt variability are also studied by using the model.