Anthropogenic Influences on the Tidal Prism and Water Exchange in Yueqing Bay, Zhejiang, China

Abstract

Ying, C.; Li, R.; Li, X., and Liu, Y., 2018. Anthropogenic Influences on the Tidal Prism and Water Exchange in Yueqing Bay, Zhejiang, China. In: Shim, J.-S.; Chun, I., and Lim, H.S. (eds.), Proceedings from the International Coastal Symposium (ICS) 2018 (Busan, Republic of Korea). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 85, pp. 961–965. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Yueqing Bay (YQB) is a semi-enclosed, calabash-shaped bay with shallow water depths and a large tidal range in the East China Sea that is relatively narrow in the middle and wide at its top and mouth. YQB has been subjected to considerable human activity, including reclamation and dam construction projects, over the past 50 years. To understand the changes in the hydrodynamics and water exchange abilities in YQB with respect to these anthropogenic influences, the tidal prism (TP) and water residence time (WRT) of YQB during the years 1964, 1984, 2002, and 2012 were investigated using a calibrated, two-dimensional hydrodynamic model based on the finite volume method. The simulation results show that the TP of YQB decreased by 21.3% and that the WRT increased by over 80%. The water exchange ability of YQB decreased continuously, especially during 1964–1984. The TP and WRT both show nonsynchronous historical changes with anthropogenic influences due to engineering intervention methods. The inner and outer parts of YQB exhibited considerably different sensitivities to anthropogenic influences due to the calabash shape of the bay. Large-scale engineering construction projects in coastal zones imposed significant impacts on the hydrodynamic characteristics in YQB that may have led to potential environmental and ecological issues.