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Estuarine fronts have significant effects on estuarine circulation, water quality, and productivity. However, there are limited studies on the joint ecological effects of sediment and plume fronts caused by tidal mixing and a low-salinity plume in and off the Changjiang River Estuary (CRE). Based on observational data during the summers of 1988–2016, we analyzed the spatial correlations between environmental factors and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentrations along the two frontal boundaries. The water mass that is shoreward of the sediment front was characterized by the highest nutrients and total suspended matter (TSM); extensive light limitation caused by TSM consequently led to the lowest Chl-a. The water mass between the sediment and plume fronts displayed the highest Chl-a, which benefited from increased light availability due to rapid deposition of TSM across the sediment front and higher nutrients contributed by the plume and coastal upwelling. Shelf water mass beyond the plume front showed the lowest TSM and nutrients; the distinct reduction of nutrient supply resulted in a relatively low Chl-a. The spatial pattern of summer phytoplankton biomass tended to be a result of the balance of light and nutrients constructed by the two fronts and coastal upwelling in and off the CRE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidization (anammox) are considered the most important processes of removing reactive nitrogen from natural aquatic environments. We measured and compared in situ rates of the two processes across the sediment-water interface of Jinpu Bay using continuous-flow experiments combined with a NO tracing technique to determine their relative importance in this hypereutrophic coastal ecosystem. Rates of denitrification and anammox ranged from 1.76 to 327.97 and 0.33 to 36.32 μmol N m day, respectively. Both the denitrification and anammox processes were observed to be associated closely with the bioavailability of organic matter and concentrations of sulfide and iron oxides in sediments. Denitrification was the dominant pathway of eliminating reactive nitrogen and on average accounted for about 90 % of the total removed nitrogen. Totally, both the denitrification and anammox processes removed about 20 % of the externally derived inorganic nitrogen within the system. Most of the external nitrogen was still retained in the ecosystem, which may cause the severe eutrophication and algae blooms occurring at the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-resolution numerical model system is essential to resolve multi-scale coastal ocean dynamics. So a multi-scale unstructured grid-based finite-volume coastal ocean model (FVCOM) system has been established for the East China Sea and Changjiang Estuary (ECS-CE) with the aim at resolving coastal ocean dynamics and understanding different physical processes. The modeling system consists of a three-domain-nested weather research and forecasting model, FVCOM model with the inclusion of FVCOM surface wave model in order to understand the wave-current interactions. The ECS-CE system contains three different scale models: a shelf-scale model for the East China Sea, an estuarine-scale model for the Changjiang Estuary and adjacent region, and a fine-scale model for the deep waterway regions. These three FVCOM-based models guarantee the conservation of mass and momentum transferring from outer domain to inner domain using the one-way common-grid nesting procedure. The model system has been validated using data from various observation data, including surface wind, tides, currents, salinity, and wave to accurately reveal the multi-scale dynamics of the East China Sea and Changjiang Estuary. This modeling system has been demonstrated via application to the seasonal variations of Changjiang diluted water and the bottom saltwater intrusion in the North Passage, and it shows strong potential for estuarine and coastal ocean dynamics and operational forecasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares the Yangtze Estuary in China and the Western Scheldt Estuary in The Netherlands by their morphodynamic and ecological systems, their engineering works and estuarine management issues, and the major challenges in studying them. Physically speaking, the two estuaries are very different. The Yangtze Estuary is much larger and much more influenced by the upstream river than the Western Scheldt. Yet, they also have a number of morphological and ecological features in common. Both estuaries have a multi-channel system and extensive intertidal flats and wetlands with ecologically valuable flora and fauna. These eco-morphological systems are influenced by similar societal developments and human activities. Examples of the latter are engineering works and dredging activities for improving and maintaining the navigation channels, and shoreline management activities including land reclamations and setbacks. The fundamental eco-morphological phenomena that remain to be analysed and understood are the same for the two estuaries and will be discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sediment transport in the Hangzhou Bay is extremely complicated due to its bathymetry and hydrodynamic conditions. The ECOMSED model is employed to simulate three-dimensional (3-D) cohesive sediment transport in Hangzhou Bay. Dynamical factors such as Coriolis force, tides, salinity, river discharges, and waves are considered in the model. The wave parameters, including the significant wave height, period, and direction, are calculated with the SWAN model. The Grant-Madsen model is introduced for the bed shear stress due to the combined effect of waves and currents. The formulation of bed shear stress used to calculate the sink/source terms is modified based on previous research that sufficiently validated the formulation with measurement data. The integrated model of the above-mentioned models is applied to simulate sediment transport in Hangzhou Bay. The results of the simulation agree well with field observations concerning the distribution of suspended sediment, indicating that the sediments are remarkably suspended in Hangzhou Bay under the action of waves and currents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-barrier mudflats in the Changjiang Estuary is examined to obtain preservation potentials and deposition rates over different time scales. The preservation potential of couplet is ca. 46.6% within daily scale and decreases as the time-interval extending, with 9.2% on a semi-lunar scale and 3.7% on a seasonal scale. In the long term, only 1.6% of daily deposition can potentially be preserved in the tidal flat sequence and other 98.4% have been eroded and leave sedimentary discordances, discernable or un-discernable, in the mudflat deposits. A negative log-linear relationship is examined between sedimentation rates and the time spans. The length of sedimentary hiatuses on the mudflat deposition were estimated with considerable uncertainty, but it can provide from an actualistic base some further insights into the nature and origin of ancient mudflat deposits with emphasis on the sedimentary discordances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal changes in sea level, tidal range, wind, riverine discharges, nearshore SSC (suspended sediment concentration) and bed-level of intertidal flat at 4 different sites were shown. In addition, the statistical relationships between the dynamics and the behavior of the sediment surface were examined. The average intertidal elevation seems negatively correlated to sea level while positively correlated to nearshore SSC. The effect of wind on seasonal cycle of average intertidal elevation is not evident although wind is an important factor governing short-term erosion/accretion events. The influence of riverine discharges on seasonal cycle of deltaic intertidal flats is masked by other factors. It is concluded that seasonality on mudflats is more complicated than on beaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waves can have a significant impact on nearshore currents. A three-dimensional baroclinic current model including the influence of waves is presented for shallow water areas from Navier-Stokes equations. It has been found that the effects of waves on currents can be expressed in terms of the momentum flux by waves. The model uses non-orthogonal curvilinear coordinates in the horizontal directions and a Sigma coordinate in the vertical direction so that it can be more reasonably applied in estuarine and coastal regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a common hypothesis for the presently popular mild-slope equations that wave particle motion is irrotational. In this paper, an attempt is made to abandon the irrotational assumption and to set up new sea wave packet equations on slowly varying topography by use of the WKBJ method. To simplify the deduction, the two-dimensional shallow water equations are used to describe the sea wave particle motion in the very shallow nearshore area. The established equations can give some characteristics of wave propagation near shore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]