Journal
CONTINENTAL SHELF RESEARCH
Volume 90, Issue -, Pages 109-116Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.csr.2014.01.019
Keywords
Bed shear stress; Erosional flux; Depositional flux; Bed-level change; Mudflat; Saltmarsh
Categories
Funding
- Natural Science Foundation of China [41130856]
- Ministry of Science and Technology of China [2010CB951202]
- NSFC [41071014, 41021064]
- Shanghai Science and Technology Committee [128014327]
- SKLEC [2012KYYW06]
- PAPD (Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions) fund
- Major State Basic Research Development Program [2013CB956502]
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An understanding of erosional and depositional processes in intertidal wetland environments is of great importance to coastal geomorphologists, ecologists, and engineers. To evaluate the morphodynamic response of intertidal mudflats and saltmarshes to tidal inundation, we measured water depth, wave activity, current velocity profiles, suspended sediment concentration (SSC), and sediment composition at a dynamic mudflat-saltmarsh transition on eastern Chongming Island, at the Yangtze delta front, China. Based on these data, we calculated bed shear stresses generated by the combined current-wave action (tau(cw)), and the critical shear stress required to erode the surface sediments (tau(ce)), and so were able to calculate the erosional (E) and depositional (D) fluxes. The erodibility parameter (M-E) and settling velocity (w(s)) used in the calculations of E and D were calibrated using daily measurements of bed-level change. Our results showed that the mudflat experienced alternating phases of net erosion and net deposition during tidal inundation. The burst-based changes in bed level ranged from -0.92 (net erosion) to +0.43 mm/10 min, and the cumulative bed-level changes over an entire tidal cycle ranged from approximately 0 to -5.4 mm (net erosion), with an average change of -3.4 mm/tide (net erosion) over five consecutive spring tides. In contrast, only net deposition was recorded on the saltmarsh during our observations. The burst-based changes in bed level ranged from around 0 to +0.56 mm/10 min, and the cumulative changes over a tidal cycle ranged from around 0 to +5 mm, with an average of +2.6 mm/tide for the five consecutive spring tides. We conclude that net erosion and net deposition during tidal cycles alternate on the mudflat, but that only net deposition occurs on the saltmarsh. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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