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Journal of Coastal Research 32-44 Royal Palm Beach, Florida Winter 1999 A Study of Coastal Morphodynamics on the Muddy Islands in the Changjiang River Estuary Yang Shilun State Key Lab of Estuarine & Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, P.R. China . ~ .. SHILUN, Y., 1999. A Study of Coastal Morphodynamics on the Muddy Islands in the Changjiang River Estuary .tlllllll,:. Journal of Coastal Research, 15(1), 32-44. Royal Palm Beach (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. ~ ~. Based on field work for morphology and collected data on hydrodynamics, winds as well as artificial structures, this article deals with characteristics of coastal profiles, shoreline migration, erosion-accretion cycles and influence of ~~ a-+; 1&-- human activities on coastal development. Due to silt-dominated sedimentary environments and current-dominated hydrodynamic conditions, coastal morphology in the studied area is different from that on sandy beaches. On the other hand, the ringlike shoreline of the islands and the strong influence of river discharge make the coastal processes more comprehensive than normal muddy coasts. Coastal profiles in the islands were classified as three types: channel bank, tidal beach and shoal head. In the light of these terms, three kinds of erosion-accretion cycles were explored; (a) several years cycle, controlled by the changes in the offshore river channels; (b) annual cycle, influenced by the seasonal variations in winds, sea level, tidal range and nearshore suspended sediment concentration and (c) storm cycle caused by typhoons or cold waves. Due to the protection of vegetation, morphological process in the marsh was apparently different from that in the adjacent bare flat. Protective structures have stoped the retreat of the erosive coasts and slowed the migration of the islands, while reclaimation on accretional coasts greatly narrowed intertidal profiles and speeded the advancement of shorelines. The potential impacts of sea-level rise and reduction in sediment supply in the next century were also related. ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS: Coastal profile, erosion-accretion cycle, muddy tidal flat, sediment island, the Chang Jiang River estuary, China. INTRODUCTION (BRUUN, 1954; STRAHLER, 1966; DEAN, 1977; WRIGHT, 1979; LARSON, 1991; DEAN et al., 1993); (d) response of beach pro The study of coastal morphology has direct application in file to sea-level rise (BRUUN, 1962; HANDS, 1976; HANDS, coastal engineering (LARSON et al., 1994) and should be in 1980; LEATHERMAN, 1987); (e) experimental study especially valuable to future planning and management of shorelines in wave flume (KEULEGAN, 1945; KING et al., 1949; RECTOR, (CARTER, 1988). The shape and slope of coastal profiles are 1954; SCOTT, 1954; IWAGAKI et al., 1963; KAJIMA et al., 1982) related not only to sedimentary grain-size and water energy and (D mathematical modeling (HARRISON, 1969; HARRISON (BASCOM, 1951; SHEPARD, 1963; WIEGEL, 1964; KING, 1972), et al., 1971; SONU et al., 1973; WINANT et al., 1975; FELDER but also to erosive and accretional processes and offshore sub marine morphology. Response to variations in energy or sed et al., 1980; BOWAN, 1981; KRAUS et al., 1983; LARSON et al., iment supply may be traced through shoreline migration of 1989; LARSON et al., 1991). changes in sediment elevation. The study of coastal morpho In contrast to the work done on beaches, morphological dynamics is to show the mechanism responsible for the for study of muddy coasts has come relatively late. Some re mation and development of coastal topography. searchers te.g. STRAATEN et al., 1958; POSTMA, 1967; COL Significant progress has been made in the study of sandy LINS 1981; YUN, 1983; ZHANG, 1986; CHEN, 1991 and WANG beaches. The studies mainly included the following aspects: et al., 1993) described the transportation and sedimentation (a) temporal profile changes such as seasonal cycle (SHEP of fine sediments on tidal flats. Others (WELLS et al., 1981; ARD, 1950; WINANT et al., 1975; AUBREY, 1979; FIElD et al., ANDERSON, 1983; YUN, 1983; YANG, 1991; JIANG, 1993 and 1980; AUBREY et al., 1985; LARSON et al., 1994), storm-fair ZHANG, 1993) showed the erosive and accretional changes in weather cycle (SONU, 1970; Fox et al., 1973; HOWD et al., muddy flat profiles as well as their controlling factors. Gen 1987; LARSON et al., 1994; LEE, 1995; SEXTON, 1995), tidal erally speaking, a muddy flat is different from a sandy beach cycle (OTVOS, 1965; STRAHLER, 1966; SCHWARTZ, 1967) and in three aspects: (a) the former is mainly made up of silts and long-term cycle (JIMENEZ et al., 1993; LARSON et al., 1994); clayes (viscous sediments) while the latter principally sands (b) relationship between profile and dynamics (LAFoND, (non viscous sediments). (b) The slope of the former is grad 1939; SHEPARD et al., 1940; GRANT, 1948; KING, 1953; DUN ual, usually less than 1.0%; but the latter is sharp, normally CON, 1964; SUNAMURA et al., 1987); (c) equilibrium profile greater than 1.0%. (c) The former is dominated by tidal dy namics while the latter by waves. 96005 received 30 June 1996; accepted in revision 17 October 1997. Up to now, no systematic research has been made on mor- Coas ta l Morphodyn amics in the Changjiang Estua ry 33 5.------------.--.., .~..!~ . 0° 4 &.................;.."1... , . 0° .''''"f'. 3 _, ... -..... ~ .--·r . 2 / -.~.~~ //C I '. ' I ye E 0 " If? '" /i'l/ /-'''xl.. I-I I A.I _ ./\ ~ -2 •B Ii / . Q) " -3 F /1/ .. \ I ' e D\ -4 31'20' - 5 I/f \E A"'P: Pr ofile -6 /~ 1. Changxin -7 L......l!...-J__'---l~:__'~--'---:::--'~:-'/ 2. Hengsa 3 4 5 6 7 8 3. Jiuduansa Mz(et» o 30km Figure 2. Changes in sedime nt mea n grain-size ( <1» along the st udied 1 I profiles (et> = - log2d[mm]) the dotted line A,B . .F re pres en ts the pro files accor d with those shown in Fig. 1; the real line is the mea n of th e 121'30' dotted ones . Figure 1. Map of the Cha ngjiang River estuary showi ng th e setting uf th e islands and th e sites of the cross-shore profiles studied (int ertida l shoa ls were not dr awn out except th e biggest one, th e -Iiuduansa). th e sea are dominant, with th eir frequ ency 1.6 tim es as th e average; mean wind velocity averages 3.9 mis, 4 to 5 storms affect th e area each year, half being tropical cyclones and half being strong cold wind s (cold waves), with a maximum veloc phodynami cs along th e island coasts in the Changjiang River ity of 26 m/s recorded on April 28, 1983. The mean tidal ran ge estua ry although some meaningful results have been ac is 2.59m-3.08m in the North Branch, 1.96m-2.47m in the quired in the adjacent mainland coasts (YUN, 1983; CHEN, South Branch, 2.45 m at Cha ngxin and 2.62 m at Hengsh a; 1991; YANG, 1991 and ZHANG, 1993). These island coasts, the maximum tid al range is 5.95 m in th e North Branch, 4.67 developed in a large bran ching river mouth, are different ei m in the South Branch, 4.49 m at Cha ngxin and 4.64 m at th er from sandy beaches or from normal muddy coasts in Hengsha (GSCll, 1996). In normal conditions, mean and morphodynamics. A study of th em is needed. maximum current velocity in th e river courses is less than 1.0 m/s and 2.0 mis, respectively. On tid al flats and marshes, PHYSICAL SETIING th e current weak ens landward, with th e maximum less th an Changjiang, th e third largest river in th e world, carries 924 0.5 m/s in marshes and 1.0 m/s in lower flats (YANG, 1994). X 109 m3/a water and 468 X 106 t/a sediment (GSCll, 1996) Dominant waves are wind-driven in the estuary. Positive cor into th e East China Sea at 310 Nand 1210 E. The river mouth relati on exists between wind and wave direction and between (Figure 1) encompasses an area of 3830 km". The width of wind velocity and wave height (YANG, 1991). Average and th e river mouth (about 50 km on th e average) mad e it pos maximum wave heights in th e history was respectively 1.0 m sible for shoals to form in ar eas where currents were rela and 6.2 m at th e Yingshuichu an Station (a few kilomet ers tively slow due to th e effect of Coriolis force (CHEN et al., outside th e front of the river mouth) and 0.2 m and 3.2 m in 1979). Three islands, named Chongming, Cha ngxin and the South Channel (GSCll, 1996). Hengsa, have been developed from shoals which were first Sediments in the intertidal zone are dominat ed by silt and formed respectively in 7th, 17th and 19th centuries. Each clay. Based on 128 represe nta tive samples from tidal flats island ha s been reclaim ed and inhabited by man; th e history and marshes on th e islands and th e J iuduan sha shoal, the can be traced to 1300 BP in Chongming (GSCll, 1996). Now mean of th e middle grain-size (dso) was 0.027 mm which ex th eir ringlike shoreline are 210 km, 59 km and 30 km, re actly accords with th e feature of the sus pended sediments spectively (Figure 1). Besides th ese islands, a large intertidal supplied by the Cha ngjiang River (YANG, 1994). On th e bed shoal, named J iuduan sha, exists at th e front of th e river of th e river courses around th e islands and th e shoal, th e mouth, with its top elevatio n a little above th e mean high mean of dso (from 64 samples) was 0.066mm, wit h most of tidal level.