Feedback Effects of Sediment Suspensions on Transport Mechanisms in an Estuarine Turbidity Maximum

The mechanisms controlling the formation of an estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) in estuaries have been extensively investigated, but one aspect that has received much less scientific attention is the role of high suspended sediment concentrations in combination with tidal asymmetry in ETM formation. Particularly in highly turbid estuaries,...

Effects of Sediment-Induced Density Gradients on the Estuarine Turbidity Maximum in the Yangtze Estuary

An estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) is a region of elevated suspended sediment concentration (SSC) resulting from residual transport mechanisms driven by river flow, tides, and salinity-induced density gradients (SalDG). However, in energetic and highly turbid environments such as the Yangtze Estuary, SedDG may also substantially contribute...

Regime shifts in the Changjiang (Yangtze River) Estuary: The role of concentrated benthic suspensions

Channel deepening often triggers positive feedback between tidal deformation, sediment import and drag reduction, which leads to the regime shift in estuaries from low-turbid to hyper-turbid state. In this study, a transition in profiles of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) is hypothesised by including a positive feedback loop of...

A study of in-situ sediment flocculation in the turbidity maxima of the Yangtze Estuary

In order to improve our understandings of temporal and vertical variations of sediment flocculation dynamics within the turbidity maxima (TM) of the highly turbid Yangtze Estuary (YE), we deployed LISST-100C, a laser instrument for in-situ monitor of the sizes and concentrations of flocculated particles in a wet season. Field data in terms of...