Threshold sediment flux for the formation of river deltas in Hainan Island,southern China

Journal of Geographical Sciences - The knowledge of geomorphological evolution from an estuary to a river delta is necessary to form the formulation of comprehensive land-ocean interaction...     

长江口邻近海域氮同位素的周日变化特征及其对营养盐过程的指示

长江口邻近海域的氮循环过程一直是近海富营养化研究领域的热点问题, 然而目前较少有针对短周期的调查研究。本文调查了该区域氮、磷、硅等主要营养盐及多种形态的氮稳定同位素的在潮周期周日变化特征。结果显示, NO_3~-、NH_4~+、PO_4~(3-)和SiO_3~(2-)的浓度范围分别为 14.09—55.85、0.21—2.26、0.82—1.08 和 16.80—33.85μmol/L, 而δ~(15)N-NO_3~-、δ~(18)O-NO_3~-、δ~(15)N_P和δ~(13)C_P 等的分布范围分别为 4.7‰—11.1‰、-2.0‰—7.8‰、-1.2‰—7.9‰和-22.9‰— -14.7‰。NO_3~-、PO_4~(3-)和SiO_2~(3-)均与盐度呈现明显的负相关特征, 说明三者的主要来源为长江冲淡水; 4NH(10)则随盐度升高而浓度增加, 且在底层高浓度出现时刻与高盐水团输入时刻一致, 说明外海输入是该区域铵盐的主要来源。另一方面, 氮稳定同位素(δ~(15)N-NO_2~-和δ~(15)N_P)未表现出随盐度的变化规律, 而δ~(18)3O-NO_3~-和δ~(13)C_P 则随盐度升高而增加, 说明淡水输入的同位素值低于海洋水平。通过对比中、高浓度叶绿素水体中NO_3~-、δ~(15)N-NO_3~-、δ~(18)O-NO_3~-的变化特征可以看出, 随NO_3~-浓度降低, δ~(15)N-NO_3~-值升高, 且呈现 6.2‰的分馏系数, 且氧同位素也随之增大, 指示水体中浮游植物对硝酸盐的同化吸收作用。而另一方面, 两种同位素的增加差值表现出△δ~(18)O︰△δ~(15)N1 , 说明硝酸盐在被消耗的同时还发生着补充作用。在较高盐度的水体中, 发现4NH(10)呈现出向硝酸盐的转化趋势并引起δ~(15)N-NO_3~-降低, 指示了底部明显的硝化过程, 与此前的研究结果一致。本文结果以期丰富对河口区氮循环和迁移转化的认知。     

The dynamics of a bathymetrically arrested estuarine front

The mixing and circulation associated with a bathymetrically arrested estuarine front was studied using hydrographic and current data. A quasisteady front, exhibiting strongly convergent surface flows, is formed along the steeply sloping inner margins of the flood tide delta during each semidiurnal tide cycle. This front separates the brackish ambient water within a deep estuarine basin from the incoming oceanic tidal water. The position of the front is dependent on the local water depth and the difference in density between the two water masses. Beneath the surface there is an inclined frontal interface where static stability is very low and vertical mixing intense. A vertically integrated horizontal momentum equation was derived for flow in the upper layer and an estimate made as to the value of the associated entrainment coefficient.     

Vertical distribution of first stage larvae of the blue crab,Callinectes sapidus,at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay

The vertical distribution of stage I blue crab larvae, near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, was examined over four diurnal cycles. Each of two stations was occupied for 30 hours twice during the summer of 1979.On each of the four cruises, peak larval abundance occurred after a night time high slack tide, suggesting a synchronized hatch of blue crab larvae. 90–99% of all larvae collected were taken in the neuston layer. The apparent timing of the hatches to coincide with the beginning of an ebb tide and the concentration of larvae in the neuston layer strongly suggests seaward transport of these early stage larvae and the probability of offshore development.     

Nutritional condition of fish larvae in South African estuaries: an appraisal of three biochemical methods

Estuaries are exposed to a number of threats and many South African estuarine systems are functionally and structurally altered. The extent to which fish are affected by these alterations is not fully understood. The estuarine round herring Gilchristella aestuaria is an appropriate species to use when examining such effects. The most widely used approaches to evaluating the nutritional condition of fish larvae are based on biochemical methods. In order to identify the most suitable technique for assessing body condition of fish larvae in estuaries, the nutritional condition of post-flexion larvae of G. aestuaria from the Sundays and Kariega estuaries on the south-east coast of South Africa was evaluated using three different biochemical techniques: (i) total lipid content analysis and the triacylglycerol/cholesterol (TAG/CHOL) ratio; (ii) protein content analysis; and (iii) the RNA/DNA ratio. Results from techniques (ii) and (iii) revealed that G. aestuaria larvae from the Kariega Estuary were in better condition than larvae from the Sundays Estuary, probably due to a recent plankton bloom. It is concluded that the individual RNA/DNA ratio can provide a reliable, sensitive and cost-effective method to assess the immediate effects of environmental changes on the nutritional condition of estuarine fish larvae.     

On the stability relationships between tidal asymmetry and morphologies of tidal basins and estuaries

Simple stability relationships are practically useful to provide a rapid assessment of coastal and estuarine landforms in response to human interventions and long‐term climate change. In this contribution, we review a variety of simple stability relationships which are based on the analysis of tidal asymmetry (TA). Most of the existing TA‐based stability relationships are derived using the one‐dimensional tidal flow equations assuming a certain regular shape of the tidal channel cross‐sections. To facilitate analytical solutions, specific assumptions inevitably need to be made, for example by linearizing the friction term and dropping some negligible terms in the tidal flow equations. We find that three major types of TA‐based stability relationships have been proposed between three non‐dimensional channel geometric ratios (represented by the ratio of channel widths, ratio of wet surface areas and ratio of storage volumes) and the tide‐related parameter a/h (i.e. the ratio between tidal amplitude and mean water depth). Based on established geometric relations, we use these non‐dimensional ratios to restate the existing relationships so that they are directly comparable. Available datasets are further extended to examine the utility of these TA‐based relationships. Although a certain agreement is shown for these relationships, we also observe a large scatter of data points which are collected in different types of landscape, hydrodynamic and sedimentological settings over the world. We discuss in detail the potential reasons for this large scatter and subsequently elaborate on the limited applicability of the various TA‐based stability relationships for practical use. We highlight the need to delve further into what constitutes equilibrium and what is needed to develop more robust measures to determine the morphological state of these systems. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A general solution for tide‐induced groundwater fluctuation in an estuarine‐coastal confined and unconfined aquifer system

This paper presents an analytical solution to tide‐induced head fluctuations in a two‐dimensional estuarine‐coastal aquifer system that consists of an unconfined aquifer and a heterogeneous confined aquifer extending under a tidal river with a semipermeable layer between them. This study considers the joint effects of tidal‐river leakage, inland leakage, dimensionless transmissivity between the tidal‐river and inland confined aquifer, and transmissivity anisotropic ratios. The analytical solution for this model is obtained via the separation of variables method. Three existing solutions related to head fluctuation in one‐ or two‐dimensional leaky confined aquifers are considered as special cases in the present solution. This study shows that there is a threshold of tidal‐river confined aquifer length. When the tidal‐river length is greater than the threshold length, the inland head fluctuations remain sensitive to the leakage effect but become insensitive to the tidal‐river width and dimensionless transmissivity. Considering leakage and transmissivity anisotropy, this study also demonstrates that at a location farther from the river–inland boundary, head fluctuations increase with increasing leakage and transmissivity anisotropy; the maximum head fluctuation occurs when leakage and transmissivity anisotropy are both at their maximum values. The combined action of the 3 effects of loading, tidal‐river aquifer leakage, and inland aquifer leakage differs significantly according to various aquifer parameters. The analytical solution in this paper can be applied to demonstrate the behaviours of the head fluctuations of an estuarine‐coastal aquifer system, and the head fluctuations can be clearly described when the tidal and hydrogeological parameters are derived from field measurement data or hypothetical cases.     

径流量和海平面变化对河口最大浑浊带的影响

应用改进的ECOM模式,耦合泥沙输运方程,研究径流量和海平面变化对河口最大浑浊带的影响.河口最大浑浊带位于滞流点处,底层上下游余流均向该处输运泥沙,造成该处泥沙汇合,而由流场辐合产生的上升流又使该处的泥沙不易落淤.由于盐水入侵带来的高盐水位于北岸的底层,其斜压效应使底层的横向环流由北向南流动,把底层高浓度的泥沙向南岸平流,使得最大浑浊带位于南岸.研究河口最大浑浊带现象必须使用三维泥沙输运模式.在径流量增大的情况下,与控制试验相比底层向陆的密度流减弱,滞流点下移,导致最大浑浊带也下移;因上游来沙量增加,在最大浑浊带中心和河口拦门沙处悬浮泥沙浓度趋于增加.在径流量减少的情况下,最大浑浊带的变化趋势与径流量增大情况的结果相反.在海平面上升的情况下,拦门沙区域底层向陆的密度流趋于增强,滞流点上移,最大浑浊带也相应向上游移动;最大浑浊带中心处泥沙浓度趋于增大,但口门拦门沙处泥沙浓度趋于减小.径流量和海平面变化对最大浑浊带影响明显.