7 - Coastal Dynamics and Sediment Resuspension in Laizhou Bay

Abstract

Laizhou Bay, located in the south of the Bohai Sea, is an important Bohai Economic Zone. The Bay stretches from the modern Yellow River Delta in the west to Qimu Island in the east and has a bowl-shape area with an average depth less than 10 m. The Yellow River, which is one of the most sediment-laden rivers in the world, has been discharging into the Bohai Sea on the northwest coast of Laizhou Bay since 1855. The characteristic of sediment transport in Laizhou Bay is fundamentally affected by the Yellow River as tremendous amount of sediment is transported into the sea every year. In this chapter, meteorological climate, astronomic tides, and coastal waves in Laizhou Bay are briefly introduced. Seabed sediments, cohesive sediment settling, and spatial distribution of resuspended sediment are then discussed. Effects of human impacts on Laizhou Bay, including coastal land reclamation and Water-Sediment Regulation Scheme in the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River, are presented finally.