FIELD MEASUREMENTS OF SURFACE SUSPENDED SEDIMENT CONCENTRATION IN THE YANGTZE ESTUARY, CHINA

Abstract: The Yangtze estuary, from Xuliujing to the mouth, is 145 km in length and the width extends from 5 km at Xuliujing to 90 km at the mouth. There are lots of influence factors on the motions of flow and sediment, including the tide, wave, bed form and the flow and sediment of upstream. Understanding on the motions of flow and sediment with the long term in-situ investigation is crucial to the management of multiple economic and societal issues ranging from commercial fisheries to contaminant transport and harbor maintenance in the estuary. This paper concluded some new results on the space-time distribution of the surface suspended sediment concentration in the Yangtze Estuary, China. Field data are obtained at the upper reach (Xuliujing station), middle reach (Hengsha station) and down reach (Sheshan station) of the estuary between Aug. 1998 and Jan. 1999. Wind wave conditions and its influence on sediment re-suspension and transportation also discussed in this paper