Mechanism of Formation and Estuarine Turbidity Maxima in the Hau River Mouth

Observation of the Hau River distributary of the Mekong River delta in Vietnam, conducted in dry and flood season (2009, 2014, and 2015), is utilized to investigate the mechanism of formation, distribution of estuarine turbidity maxima (ETM), and links with sediment transport in the system. Additionally, 3D (three-dimensional) numerical models are applied to simulate the seasonal tidal variation (flood and dry seasons) of the water and suspended sediment transport processes of the Mekong River Delta. The 3D model, with a combination of hydrodynamic-wave and suspended sediment transport, was set up and validated with measured data in the study area. The mechanism that measures ETM is the process of suspended sediment from the river when it interacts with seawater and speeds up the flocculation, combined with the asymmetry of the tidal current, which will create the region with ETM by moving in/out with the tidal current’s ups and downs. As there is surface flow velocity towards the sea, the bottom baroclinic flow has a decisive role in deposition and erosion, and it causes the suspended sediment concentration (SSC) to be maximized. During the flood season, the salt wedge near the river’s mouth, at the peak of the tide, pushes towards the sea’s direction when there are ebbing tides, with a scope of about 20 km. In the dry season, there is estuary disturbance as well; the salt wedge forms, but is relatively weak or does not exist, depending on the time of the tide. The maximum turbidity zone in the flood season moves the subaqueous delta with a scope of about 20 km and SSC of about 0.1 to 0.6 g L−1, whereas in the dry season, the seawater has high salinity, and seaward SSC penetrates the estuaries to cause a disturbance and flocculation. The penetration scope is up to 50 km and creates a water mass that has high SSC, from 0.2 to 0.7 g L−1, to run in/off by the tidal current’s ups and downs for several kilometers in the tidal phase.

Unraveling the Essential Effects of Flocculation on Large-Scale Sediment Transport Patterns in a Tide-Dominated Estuary

Sediment transport in estuaries and the formation of estuarine turbidity maxima (ETM) highly depend on the ability of suspended particulate matter (SPM) to flocculate into larger aggregates. While most literature focuses on the small-scale impact of biological flocculants on the formation of larger aggregates, the influence of the flocculation process on large-scale estuarine SPM profiles is still largely unknown. In this paper, we study the impact of flocculation of SPM on the formation of ETM. For this, a semianalytical width-integrated model called iFlow is utilized and extended by a flocculation model. Starting from a complex one-class flocculation model, we show that flocculation may be described as a linear relation between settling velocity and suspended sediment concentration to capture its leading-order effect on the ETM formation. The model is applied to a winter case in the Scheldt estuary (Belgium, Netherlands) and calibrated to a unique, long-term, two-dimensional set of turbidity (cf. SPM) observations. First, model results with and without the effect of flocculation are compared, showing that the spatial and temporal variations of the settling velocity due to flocculation are essential to reproduce the observed magnitude of the suspended sediment concentrations and its dependence on river discharge. Second, flocculation results in tidally averaged land-inward sediment transport. Third, we conduct a sensitivity analysis of the freshwater discharge and floc breakup parameter, which shows that flocculation can cause additional estuarine turbidity maxima and can prevent flushing of the ETM for high freshwater inflow.

ĐỀ XUẤT CÁC GIẢI PHÁP GIẢM THIỂU TÁC ĐỘNG DO ĐỔ THẢI BÙN CÁT NẠO VÉT Ở VÙNG VEN BIỂN HẢI PHÒNG

Located in the estuary region of the Red - Thai Binh river system, in which the estuarine turbidity maxima occur, the deposition of navigation in waterways to Hai Phong ports is always an urgent problem that needs to be solved. At the present time, it is not easy to use dredged sediment for landfilling or other purposes. Moreover, it is also difficult to dispose of them on the land because of requiring the design and construction of dikes, requiring compaction and drainage of dumped materials. Therefore, disposing of materials at dumping sites in Hai Phong open waters is still an alternative for considering. However, the suspended sediment from the dumping sites can cause influences on the marine environment and ecosystems. Based on the characteristics of natural conditions, socio-economy and ecological environment in Hai Phong coastal areas as well as results of the modeling application (Delft3D model), this paper gives some proposals for appropriate solutions to reduce influences of sediment dumping activities in the Hai Phong open waters. They are: (1) Planning a land for reclamation of dumped materials, (2) Research on the strategies to use dredged sediments as a resource, (3) Finding a best method of dumping, (4) Considering tidal current for daily dumping, (5) Choosing disposal time during neap tide, (6) Restricting disposal in case winds come from SW and S, (7) Reducing time and the number of dumping, increasing amount of sediments in each dumping, (8) Applying technologies in disposal monitoring, (9) Regularly monitoring the environment at the dumping sites and adjacent areas.

Time Evolution of Estuarine Turbidity Maxima in Well-Mixed, Tidally Dominated Estuaries: The Role of Availability- and Erosion-Limited Conditions

Using an idealized width-averaged process-based model, the role of a mud pool on the bed and time-varying river discharge on the trapping of fine sediment is systematically investigated. For this purpose, a dynamically and physically motivated description of erodibility is presented, which relates the amount of sediment on the bed to the suspended sediment concentration (SSC). We can distinguish between two states: in the availability-limited state, the SSC is limited by the amount of erodible sediment at the bed. Over time, under constant forcing conditions, the estuary evolves to morphodynamic equilibrium. In the erosion-limited state, there is an abundant amount of sediment at the bed so that sediment pickup occurs at the maximum possible rate. The SSC is then limited by the local hydrodynamic conditions. In this state, the estuary keeps importing sediment, forming an erodible bottom pool that grows in time. These two states can be used to explain the response of an estuary to changing river discharge. Under availability-limited conditions, periods of high river discharge push estuarine turbidity maxima (ETMs) downstream, while drier periods allow ETMs to move upstream. However, when the estuary is in an erosion-limited state during low river discharge, a bottom pool is formed. When the discharge then increases, it takes time to deplete this pool, so that an ETM located over a bottom pool moves with a significant time lag relative to changes in the river discharge. Good qualitative agreement is found between model results and observations in the Scheldt Estuary of surface SSC using a representative year of discharge conditions.