Abstract
Coastline change, erosion-accretion evolution, and their relationship in the Pearl River Estuary (PRE) of China over the past 25 years are analyzed using six remote-sensing images from 1986 to 2011 and two nautical charts. Due to land reclamation in the period from 1986 to 2011, the total length of the PRE coastline increased by 149.2 km, which is equivalent to a growth of 0.57% per year, and the coastal land increased by 251.76 km 2 , which is equivalent to a growth of 0.23% per year; in addition, water depth change showed a trend in that foreshores became shallower, while deep channels became deeper. Areas where the coastline extended seaward had deposition to some extent, except for deepwater ports. Human activities played an important role in coastline change and erosion-accretion evolution in the PRE, which intervened with the natural variation of coastline and erosion-accretion. In addition, pollutants from the reclamation land became the major factors of coastal water pollution, which may significantly influence the environment of the PRE in a negative way.
Highlights
Coastline is one of the most important linear features on the Earth’s surface,[1] where land meets the ocean
Human activities played an important role in coastline change and erosion-accretion evolution in the Pearl River Estuary (PRE), which intervened with the natural variation of coastline and erosion-accretion
Of the whole PRE region, the most significant change occurred along the Nansha Economic Development Zone to Hengmen Island in the northwest (Part 1) and from the Shekou Peninsula to Shenzhen Bay in the east (Part 4); and changes along Jiaoyi Bay to Shenzhen Airport in the northeast (Part 2) and Sidong Shoal to Qi’ao Island in the southwest (Part 3) took second place
Summary
Coastline is one of the most important linear features on the Earth’s surface,[1] where land meets the ocean. Remote-sensing technology, GIS technology, and digital nautical charts have been used to study the evolution of the Pearl River Delta. Li and Damen[15] analyzed shoreline changes and suspended sediment plume distribution and sedimentation, utilizing topographic maps, nautical charts, and remote-sensing images. None of these studies discussed the relationship between coastline change and erosion-accretion evolution, an important issue to the processes of understanding and management. We analyze coastline change and erosion-accretion evolution of the PRE, especially the relationship between the two, the causes, and their impacts on the environment in the recent 25 years, using the latest time series of remote-sensing images and nautical charts
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