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Physics of estuaries and coastal seas
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Riverine sediment transport from different outlets in the Pearl River Estuary
P-P1-03-S
Guang Zhang* , School of Marine Science, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China, 510275
Weicong Cheng,
Heng Zhang,
Wenping Gong,
Presenter Email: zhangg28@mail2.sysu.edu.cn |
| Riverine sediment is important for the development of river delta as well as for carrying nutriment and contaminants into estuaries and coasts. Previous studies of sediment transport focused on single-source estuary and paid less attention to the multi-sources estuary. In this paper, we used the COAWST (Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Wave Sediment Transport) model to study the sediment transport in the Pearl River Estuary where there are four main outlets. During the flood season, most riverine sediment is transported downstream in spring tides and entrapped in the estuary during neap tides, and the distribution of different outlet sediment is quite independent. In upper estuary, sediment is transported by advection depending on river discharge, and in lower estuary, sediment flux is related to tide and runoff. During the dry season, riverine sediment is resuspended by currents and waves and then transported downstream in the lower estuary and upstream in the upper estuary. Tidal pumping is more important than advection, and the distribution of different outlet sediment has more overlapping area due to enhanced mixing. Changes in wind and river discharge are the main reasons for the alteration of sediment transport pathways into the sea. This study helps to better understand sediment transport in multi-sources estuary and has distinct implications for coastal environmental management.
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