1285 / 2024-09-20 22:56:54

The influence of vegetation on sediment transport and topographic evolution in the tidal flat of the macro-tidal turbidity estuary, Hangzhou Bay

Vegetation,sediment transport,topographic evolution,Hangzhou Bay

Tidal flat plays an important role in local and global development of the marine economy because of its abundant natural resources and unique geographical conditions. It is worth to study the characteristic and mechanism of tidal flat evolution. There are various kinds of vegetation in many tidal flats, which not only constitute an important part of blue carbon, but also greatly affect the sediment transport law in tidal flats. In this study, the vegetation parameters and distribution were determined by using remote sensing and observation data, and the effects of vegetation on sediment transport and topographic erosion were simulated by FVCOM model. The results show that in the short term without considering the vegetation change, the increasing resistance of the vegetation area reduces the water flow speed and thus increases the sediment settlement and siltation. However, due to the hydrodynamic periodicity of the tidal flat area, the surface silted sediment can easily suspend back into the water body.