Study on the geomorphological changes of deep troughs under the influence of reclamation in the Caofeidian

Abstract

Reclamation projects generally change the hydrodynamics and thus affect the topography of the seabed, which is the main threat to the safety of marine engineering. The Caofeidian Reclamation Project, the largest reclamation project in China to date, involved the reclamation of coastal regions of the Hebei Province. However, the project also created several issues and flaws due to the size of the reclaimed area. Through the comparative analysis in the Caofeidian sea area of multi-phase bathymetric topography, shallow stratigraphic changes, and numerical simulation of sediment dynamics, the characteristics of surface sediments and spatial distribution of erodibility were summarized. New marine geological hazards were discovered, such as submarine landslides and erosion depressions. It was concluded that after the reclamation of the Caofeidian, the south of the deep trough was still in an erosion state, and the erosion rate increased slightly. The shear stress formed by strong tidal currents in the deep trough was greater than the critical erosion shear stress of surface sediments, which caused the erosion transport of sediments. It was the primary dynamic mechanism leading to the long-term erosion state of the deep trough.