Open AccessA preliminary study on seasonal variations of sediment concentrations in the inner Qiantang Estuary
Author(s) -
Dongfeng Xie,
Junbao Huang,
Bo Jiang,
Ruohua Li,
Tang Zi-wen,
Hongbin Lu
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/569/1/012079
Subject(s) - estuary , tidal range , spring (device) , sediment , tidal irrigation , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , range (aeronautics) , oceanography , geology , atmospheric sciences , geomorphology , geotechnical engineering , mechanical engineering , materials science , engineering , composite material
The Qiantang Estuary is characterized by high suspended sediment concentrations, due to the world-famous tidal bore. In this study, continuous sediment concentrations has been observed in the inner Qiantang Estuary in April, June, September and November of 2018, by fixing an OBS on a floating platform. The results show that SSC have both tidally and seasonal variations, in particular influenced by the tidal bore. In summer and autumn the tidal ranges were relatively large and the time series of SSC were spike-similar. In spring and winter the tidal ranges were relatively smaller and the time series of SSC were similar to a sine/cosine curve. SSC is largest in autumn, followed by summer and winter, and smallest in spring. SSCs in the summer and autumn correlate positively with tidal range but the correlations in spring and winter are less insignificant. SSC depends mainly on the tidal range given the tidal range is large enough. Under relatively smaller tidal range, the relative importance of other factors such as river discharge, bed level changes and winds, etc., on the sediment concentrations would be increased.