Sediment transport and sedimentation in Jiulongjiang estuary and
adjacent Taiwan Strait
Wang Aijun, Chen Jian, Lai Zhikun, Hu Yi
(Open Laboratory for Coast & Ocean Environmental Geology, Third Institute of
Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiame 361005)
Abstract: Jiulongjiang is the second largest river in Fujian, and it plays an important
role on sediments and contaminants transport of Xiamen Bay and adjacent Taiwan
Strait. Based on several in situ investigations, salinity, suspended sediment
concentrations (SSC), water temperature and surficial sediments were obtained.
Analysis results show that the water salinity increases from upper stream of
Jiulongjiang Estuary to Xiamen Bay and adjacent Taiwan Strait, and the low salinity
water could extend eastward about 50 km. During spring, the salinity in south Taiwan
Strait is lower because the fresh water input from Jiulongjiang River, and during
summer, the fresh water is transported northeastward. The highest SSC occurs at the
middle channel within the Estuary, and then decreases toward Xiamen Bay; however,
at bottom, the high SSC value also occurred at Liaoluo Bay which lies at south
Quemoy; in Taiwan Strait, the SSC decreases from near coast to offshore which
indicates that the river influences decreases. Surficial sediment analysis shows that the
sediment is transported from Jiulongjiang Estuary to Xiamen Bay and south Taiwan
Strait.
Key words: sediment transport; Jiulongjiang Estuary; Taiwan Strait; suspended
sediment concentration; grain size