Grain-Size Distribution of Surface Sediments in the Bohai Sea and the Northern Yellow Sea: Sediment Supply and Hydrodynamics

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 589-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Yuan ◽  
Houjie Wang ◽  
Xiao Wu ◽  
Naishuang Bi
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spyros Pritsis ◽  
Nils Ruther ◽  
Kordula Schwarzwälder ◽  
Anastasios Stamou

<p>Nowadays, the aquatic biodiversity is highly under pressure due to anthropogenic changes of the rivers such hydraulic structures changing the diversity of flow and aquatic fauna as well as sediment continuity. This can have severe consequences on the fish population in the river reach. Fish are strongly depending on a certain substrate composition throughout all their life stages. Juveniles for example are depending on a certain availability of shelter in the substrate in order to survive this stage.</p><p>Therefore, we investigate the effects of changes in the sediment composition at a hydropower plant in Switzerland on the availability of potential shelter for juvenile fish. By utilizing the observed correlation between parameters describing the fine tail of a riverbed’s grain size distribution and shelter abundance for juvenile Atlantic salmon, we predict the available shelter in a river reach by using a 3D hydrodynamic numerical model directly coupled to a morphodynamic model. The initial substrate composition was assumed to be spatially uniform, its parameters based on a grain size distribution curve derived from collected sediment samples.</p><p>This model can now be used for habitat improvement scenario modeling. Based on the assumption that a specific mixture of sediment coming from upstream travelling through the river reach will positively influence the potential shelter availability, different scenarios can be investigated. The baseline for comparison was the simulation of the bed changes without any sediment supply from upstream. The baseline discharge was set to 100 m<sup>3</sup> /s and was applied for 24 hours. The resulting bed changes create a map of the potential shelter availability of this grain size mixture. Then, two scenarios with sediment inflow from the upstream boundary were simulated. One coarse and one fine mixture of sediment were chosen as inputs, with the goal of investigating their impact on shelter abundance. The former designed to have a positive effect while the latter expected to reduce interstitial voids in the substrate and have a negative effect on available shelter.</p><p>The investigation is conducted as part of the EU Horizon 2020 funded project FIThydro (funded under 727830)</p>


2008 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qing Xu ◽  
Hui Lin ◽  
Yuguang Liu ◽  
Xianqing Lv ◽  
Yongcun Cheng

One difficulty with coupled physical-biological ocean models is determining optimal values of poorly known model parameters. The variational adjoint assimilation method is a powerful tool for the automatic estimation of parameters. We used this method to incorporate remote-sensed chlorophyll-a data into a coupled physical-biological model developed for the Bohai Sea and the Northern Yellow Sea. A 3-D NPZD model of nutrients (N), phytoplankton (P), zooplankton (Z) and detritus (D) was coupled with a physical model, the Princeton Ocean Model. Sensitivity analysis was carried out to choose suitable control variables from the model parameters. Numerical twin experiments were then conducted to demonstrate whether the spatio-temporal resolutions of the observations were adequate for estimating values of the control variables. Finally, based on the success of the twin experiments, we included remote-sensed chlorophyll-a data in the NPZD model. With the adjoint assimilation of these chlorophyll-a data, the coupled model better describes spring and autumn phytoplankton blooms and the annual cycle of phytoplankton at the surface layer for the study area. The annual cycle of simulated surface nutrient concentrations also agreed well with field observations. The adjoint method greatly improves the modelling capability of coupled ocean models, helping us to better understand and model marine ecosystems.


Author(s):  
O.S. Olaniyan

Sediment transport rate depends on bed composition, flow hydraulics and sediment supply. There is a paucity of information on bedload transport in River Osun. In this study, bedload in River Osun was estimated using grain size distribution data to predict channel migration and mitigate flooding. Grab sampler was used to collect sediment samples at the sampling point across the river designated as T1-T4. Sieve analysis was carried out in triplicate on sediment from sampling points using standard methods. Discharge and cross-sectional area were measured between December 2017 and December 2018 at sampling stations using standard methods. The seasonal and bedload were estimated using standards equations. The percentage of bed material particles above 5mm and less than or equal to 2mm were 50 and 22.49%, respectively. The average median grain (d50) size was 2.4mm. The discharge and cross-sectional area across River Osun ranged (0.53-17.46) m3/s and (3.83-47.46) m2. The seasonal suspended and bedload across the river were (206.43×103 kg/annum) and 2,538.77×103(kg/annum), respectively. The estimated sediment load of River Osun could be useful in determining the dredging period at any point across the river where deposition of sediment could be monitored.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1041-1057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Müller ◽  
Marwan A. Hassan

Abstract. In steep headwater reaches, episodic mass movements can deliver large volumes of sediment to fluvial channels. If these inputs of sediment occur with a high frequency and magnitude, the capacity of the stream to rework the supplied material can be exceeded for a significant amount of time. To study the equilibrium conditions in a channel following different episodic sediment supply regimes (defined by grain size distribution, frequency, and magnitude of events), we simulate sediment transport through an idealized reach with our numerical 1-D model “BESMo” (Bedload Scenario Model). The model performs well in replicating flume experiments of a similar scope (where sediment was fed constantly, in one, two, or four pulses) and allowed the exploration of alternative event sequences. We show that in these experiments, the order of events is not important in the long term, as the channel quickly recovers even from high magnitude events. In longer equilibrium simulations, we imposed different supply regimes on a channel, which after some time leads to an adjustment of slope, grain size, and sediment transport that is in equilibrium with the respective forcing conditions. We observe two modes of channel adjustment to episodic sediment supply. (1) High-frequency supply regimes lead to equilibrium slopes and armouring ratios that are like conditions in constant-feed simulations. In these cases, the period between pulses is shorter than a “fluvial evacuation time”, which we approximate as the time it takes to export a pulse of sediment under average transport conditions. (2) In low-frequency regimes the pulse period (i.e., recurrence interval) exceeds the “fluvial evacuation time”, leading to higher armouring ratios due to the longer exposure of the bed surface to flow. If the grain size distribution of the bed is fine and armouring weak, the model predicts a decrease in the average channel slope. The ratio between the “fluvial evacuation time” and the pulse period constitutes a threshold that can help to quantify how a system responds to episodic disturbances.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Müller ◽  
Marwan Hassan

Abstract. In steep headwater reaches, episodic mass movements can deliver large volumes of sediment to fluvial channels. If these inputs of sediment occur with a high frequency and magnitude, the capacity of the stream to rework the supplied material can be exceeded for a significant amount of time. To study the equilibrium conditions in a channel following different episodic sediment supply regimes (defined by grain size distribution, frequency, and magnitude of events), we simulate sediment transport through an idealized reach with our numerical 1D model BESMo (Bedload Scenario Model), which was configured using flume experiments with a similar scope. The model performs well in replicating the flume experiments (where sediment was fed constantly, in 1, 2 or 4 pulses) and allowed the exploration of alternative event sequences. We show that in these experiments, the ordering of events is not important in the long term, as the channel quickly recovers even from high magnitude events. In longer equilibrium simulations, we imposed different supply regimes on a channel, which after some time leads to an adjustment of slope, grain size, and sediment transport that is in equilibrium with the respective forcing conditions. We observe two modes of channel adjustment to episodic sediment supply. 1) High-frequency supply regimes lead to equilibrium slopes and armouring ratios that are like conditions in constant feed simulations. In these cases, the period between pulses is shorter than a fluvial evacuation time, which we approximate as the time it takes to export a pulse of sediment under average transport conditions. 2) In low-frequency regimes the pulse period (i.e. recurrence interval) exceeds the fluvial evacuation time, leading to higher armouring ratios due to longer exposure of the bed surface to flow. If the grain size distribution of the bed is fine and armouring weak, the model predicts a lowering in the average channel slope. The ratio between the fluvial evacuation time and the pulse period constitutes a threshold that can help to quantify how a system responds to episodic disturbances.


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