scholarly journals Sediment Coarsening in Tidal Flats and Stable Coastline of the Abandoned Southern Yellow River Sub-Delta in Response to Fluvial Sediment Flux Decrease During the Past Decades

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Zeng ◽  
Chao Zhan ◽  
Qing Wang ◽  
Xianbin Liu ◽  
Longsheng Wang ◽  
...  

Due to remarkable reduction of sediment supply, the vulnerability of Yellow River deltaic system increased and ecological impacts occurred to some extent. To have a comprehensive and quantitative understanding of the morphological evolution of deltas, surficial sediments of tidal flat along the abandoned southern Yellow River sub-delta and two adjacent coastal units were systematically collected and evaluated by grain-size analysis in the study. The results reveal that surficial sediments of the abandoned southern Yellow River sub-delta have been coarsening significantly since the 1980s, as characterized by a decrease in both the mud content and the clay/mud ratio. In particular, the transition from cohesive to non-cohesive sediment was completed between 2007 and 2013. With a sharp decrease in sediment flux from the Yellow River estuary, the flood currents from the submarine coastal slope carry few fine particles into the tidal zone, whereas the ebb currents with reverse direction remove some fine particles from the tidal flat. This is a major cause of sediment coarsening in the tidal flat. As sediment coarsening, the coastline of the abandoned southern Yellow River sub-delta has remained stable. The significant change in the grain size of the tidal flat surficial sediments may have a profound impact on the future coastal geomorphic evolution.

2019 ◽  
Vol 117 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongbo Ma ◽  
Jeffrey A. Nittrouer ◽  
Baosheng Wu ◽  
Michael P. Lamb ◽  
Yuanfeng Zhang ◽  
...  

Fine-grained sediment (grain size under 2,000 μm) builds floodplains and deltas, and shapes the coastlines where much of humanity lives. However, a universal, physically based predictor of sediment flux for fine-grained rivers remains to be developed. Herein, a comprehensive sediment load database for fine-grained channels, ranging from small experimental flumes to megarivers, is used to find a predictive algorithm. Two distinct transport regimes emerge, separated by a discontinuous transition for median bed grain size within the very fine sand range (81 to 154 μm), whereby sediment flux decreases by up to 100-fold for coarser sand-bedded rivers compared to river with silt and very fine sand beds. Evidence suggests that the discontinuous change in sediment load originates from a transition of transport mode between mixed suspended bed load transport and suspension-dominated transport. Events that alter bed sediment size near the transition may significantly affect fluviocoastal morphology by drastically changing sediment flux, as shown by data from the Yellow River, China, which, over time, transitioned back and forth 3 times between states of high and low transport efficiency in response to anthropic activities.


Author(s):  
Václav Škarpich ◽  
Tomáš Galia ◽  
Jan Hradecký

This paper summarizes results of grain-size distribution of gravel bars and transport conditions in the context of sediment sources in the confl uence area of the Morávka and Mohelnice rivers (Moravskoslezské Beskydy Mts). We deal with a hypothesis that general changes of grain-size distribution of gravel bars are controlled by disconnection in sediment flux in the Morávka River and, by contrast, that higher sediment delivery is related to the Mohelnice river basin. The second focus is the evaluation of fluvial transport parameters of a channel influenced by control works and sediment mining. Bed load transport research was conducted with the application of BAGS (Bedload Assessment for Gravel-bed Streams) spreadsheet-based program. Sediment analysis of the channel confluence showed limited sediment supply character indicated by coarser sediment delivery from the Morávka River. This fact is related to the effect of hungry water caused mainly by the Morávka Reservoir. On the other hand, the Mohelnice River displayed trends of relatively higher sediment delivery without potential disconnectivities in sediment flux. Results of this analysis brought an insight into a potential scheme of the future development of the studied reaches. We suppose preservation of recent trends in case of the occurrence of signifi cant changes in land use or watershed management.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 2799
Author(s):  
Yanping Chen ◽  
Wenzhe Lyu ◽  
Tengfei Fu ◽  
Yan Li ◽  
Liang Yi

The Huanghe River (Yellow River) is the most sediment laden river system in the world, and many efforts have been conducted to understand modern deltaic evolution in response to anthropological impacts. However, the natural background and its linkage to climatic changes are less documented in previous studies. In this work, we studied the sediments of core YDZ–3 and marine surface samples by grain-size analysis to retrieve Holocene dynamics of the Huanghe River delta in detail. The main findings are as follows: The mean value of sediment grain size of the studied core is 5.5 ± 0.9 Φ, and silt and sand contents are 5.2 ± 2.3% and 8.2 ± 5.3%, respectively, while the variance of clay particles is relatively large with an average value of 86.4 ± 8.5%. All grain-size data can be mathematically partitioned by a Weibull-based function formula, and three subgroups were identified with modal sizes of 61.1 ± 28.9 μm, 30.0 ± 23.9 μm, and 2.8 ± 1.6 μm, respectively. There are eight intervals with abrupt changes in modal size of core YDZ–3, which can be correlated to paleo-superlobe migration of the Huanghe River in the Holocene. Based on these observations, the presence of seven superlobes in the history are confirmed for the first time and their ages are well constrained in this study, including Paleo-Superlobes Lijin (6400–5280 yr BP), Huanghua (4480–4190 yr BP), Jugezhuang (3880–3660 yr BP), Shajinzi (3070–2870 yr BP), Nigu (2780–2360 yr BP), Qikou (2140–2000 yr BP), and Kenli (1940–1780 and 1700–1650 yr BP). By tuning geomorphological events to a sedimentary proxy derived from core YDZ–3 and comparing to various paleoenvironmental changes, we proposed that winter climate dominated Holocene shifts of the Huanghe River delta on millennial timescales, while summer monsoons controlled deltaic evolution on centennial timescales.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document