INVESTIGATION OF TURBIDITY MAXIMUM IN A MESOTIDAL ESTUARY, TAIWAN

Abstract

ABSTRACT: To comprehend the distributions of salinity, temperature, and suspended sediment in the Danshuei River estuary in Taiwan, monthly field surveys were conducted in 2003. These included several high and low slackwater surveys and intensive surveys. The results show that the Danshuei River estuary is predominately a partially mixed estuary. The highest concentration of suspended sediment is typically observed at the Chung-Hsin Bridge, the most upstream sampling station. The suspended sediment concentration exhibits a general decreasing trend in the downstream direction. It may be concluded that the sediments mostly come from the upstream reach. A locally high concentration of suspended sediment is found at the Kuan-Du station because of the local deep channel bathymetry and two-layered estuarine circulation. A vertical two-dimensional hydrodynamic and sediment transport model is applied to investigate the tidally averaged salinity distribution, residual circulation, and suspended sediment concentration. The modeling results reveal that, under the Q75 flow condition (i.e., low flow), a turbidity maximum occurs at the Kuan-Du station due to the strong estuarine circulation. The model simulation with a much higher river flow condition results in a weaker residual circulation and weaker turbidity maximum.