Influence of Rising Sea Level on Tidal Dynamics in the Bohai Sea

Recent studies highlight that tidal propagation in shallow waters tends to be modified with mean sea level rise, intensifying coastal threats. This study aims to obtain a comprehensive insight into the changes in tidal regimes in the Bohai Sea of China in response to local mean sea level rise. To achieve this goal the hydrodynamic model ROMS, previously calibrated and validated for Bohai Sea, was applied, considering local sea level rise scenario of 0.5 m, 1 m, 2 m and 3 m in the future, respectively. The model results show that under sea level rise conditions the amplitude of the main semidiurnal (M-2) constituent decreases in most areas except two areas where are around two amphidromic points, and changes in amplitude are not proportional to the level of sea level rise. However, compared results implied that it is necessary to consider the spatial-distribution of sea level-rise when predicting the effects of sea level rise in the future. The tidal wave also was distorted in the coastal zone, the changed wavelength made the amphidromic points move to deep water. Tidal current magnitude decreases with mean sea level rise, which could influence transport of sediment nearby coast of Bohai and Laizhou Bay.