Interaction Of Tides Research Articles

Climate refugia in the Great Barrier Reef may endure into the future.

Although global warming is leading to more frequent mass coral bleaching events worldwide, parts of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) have consistently escaped severe coral bleaching. Modeling and satellite observations show that climate refugia are created by the upwelling of cooler water to the surface through the interactions of tides and currents with dense reef structures. Here, we use a high-resolution nested regional ocean model to investigate the future status of two relatively large refugia. On the basis of model projections under a high-emission scenario, we find that the upwelling mechanisms will stay active in a warming climate, and these regions are likely to remain approximately more than 1°C cooler than surrounding waters until at least into the 2080s, providing thermal relief to corals. Identification and protection of these refugia may help facilitate reef survival and related biodiversity preservation by allowing their corals time to acclimatize and adapt and ultimately provide source populations to replenish the rest of the reef.

The Rapid Response of Southern Ocean Biological Productivity to Changes in Background Small Scale Turbulence

AbstractBackground subsurface vertical mixing rates in the Southern Ocean (SO) are known to vary by an order of magnitude temporally and spatially, due to variability in their generating mechanisms, which include winds and shear instabilities at the surface, and the interaction of tides and lee waves with rough bottom topography. There is great uncertainty in the parameterization of this mixing in coarse resolution Earth System Models (ESM), and in the impact that this has on SO biological productivity on sub decadal timescales. Using a data assimilating biogeochemical ocean model we show that SO phytoplankton productivity is highly sensitive to differences in background diapycnal mixing over short timescales. Changes in the background vertical mixing rates alter key biogeochemical and physical conditions. The greatest changes to the distribution of physical and biogeochemical tracers occur in regions with very strong tracer vertical gradients. A combination of reduced nutrient limitation and reduced light limitation causes a strong increase in SO phytoplankton productivity with higher background mixing. This leads to increased summer carbon export but reduced wintertime export over the mixed layer depth, which could alter the strength of the SO biological carbon pump and atmospheric concentrations on centennial to millennial timescales. This study demonstrates the importance of accurately representing diapycnal mixing in ESM to predict SO biogeochemical dynamics and their broader climatic implications.

Ocean warming enhances the competitive advantage of Ulva prolifera over a golden tide alga, Sargassum horneri under eutrophication

Recent years have seen the Ulva green tide and Sargassum golden tide become commonplace in the coastal waters of China. However, little is known on how the combination of ocean warming and eutrophication would affect the interaction of green and golden tides. In this study, we cultured the green tide alga Ulva prolifera and the golden tide alga Sargassum horneri under different temperatures (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30°C) and two nutrient concentrations (Low nutrient, LN: 5 μM-nitrate and 0.5 μM-phosphate; High nutrient, HN: 500 μM-N and 50 μM-P) in both monoculture and coculture systems to investigate the physiological responses and their competitive relationships. In monocultures, the growth of U. prolifera and S. horneri, along with pigment concentrations and photosynthesis, increased with rising temperature, reaching a plateau at 15 - 25°C. However, when the temperature increased to 30°C, the growth of U. prolifera and S. horneri decreased abruptly, with S. horneri even suffering death. In coculture, the growth of both U. prolifera and S. horneri was inhibited compared to the monoculture, with the greatest decline observed in S. horneri at 25°C under two nutrient conditions. Our results show that U. prolifera would outcompete S. horneri under high temperature in coculture, suggesting that ocean warming would enhance the competitive advantage of green tide over golden tide under eutrophication in the future.

The Generation of Superinertial Coastally Trapped Waves by Scattering at the Coast

Abstract A series of idealized numerical simulations is used to examine the generation of mode-one superinertial coastally trapped waves (CTWs). In the first set of simulations, CTWs are resonantly generated when freely propagating mode-one internal tides are incident on the coast such that the angle of incidence of the internal wave causes the projected wavenumber of the tide on the coast to satisfy a triad relationship with the wavenumbers of the bathymetry and the CTW. In the second set of simulations, CTWs are generated by the interaction of the barotropic tide with topography that has the same scales as the CTW. Under resonant conditions, superinertial coastally trapped waves are a leading order coastal process, with alongshore current magnitudes that can be larger than the barotropic or internal tides from which they are generated.

Enhanced generation of internal tides under global warming

A primary driver of deep-ocean mixing is breaking of internal tides generated via interactions of barotropic tides with topography. It is important to understand how the energy conversion from barotropic to internal tides responds to global warming. Here we address this question by applying a linear model of internal tide generation to coupled global climate model simulations under a high carbon emission scenario. The energy conversion to high-mode internal tides is projected to rise by about 8% by the end of the 21st century, whereas the energy conversion to low-mode internal tides remains nearly unchanged. The intensified near-bottom stratification under global warming increases energy conversion into both low and high-mode internal tides. In contrast, the intensified depth-averaged stratification reduces the modal horizontal wavenumber of internal tides, leading to increased (decreased) energy conversion into high (low)- mode internal tides. Our findings imply stronger mixing over rough topography under global warming, which should be properly parameterized in climate models for more accurate projections of future climate changes.

Estimating a Coastal Compound Flood Standard for the Taehwa River Basin

The risk of coastal compound flood, caused by the interaction of rainfall and tides, has been increasing with sea level rise and changes in rainfall due to climate change. However, there is no costal compound flood study that considers the interaction of rainfall and tides in Korea. Therefore, this study applied the compound flood concept to the Taehwa river basin to estimate the compound flood standard for the Taehwa river basin. The result revealed that the coastal compound flood occurred when the rainfall intensity was greater than 22.42 mm/hr and the tide was greater than 0.71 m. In addition, the study found that typhoon plays a role in coastal compound flood by analyzing the distribution of meteorological and oceanographic factors during the compound flood events. Our results can be used to develop disaster management plans to prepare for the risk of compound flood.

Estimates of Baroclinic Tidal Sea Level and Currents from Lagrangian Drifters and Satellite Altimetry

Abstract Internal waves generated by the interaction of the surface tides with topography are known to propagate long distances and lead to observable effects such as sea level variability, ocean currents, and mixing. In an effort to describe and predict these waves, the present work is concerned with using geographically distributed data from satellite altimeters and drifting buoys to estimate and map the baroclinic sea level associated with the M2, S2, N2, K1, and O1 tides. A new mapping methodology is developed, based on a mixed L1/L2-norm optimization, and compared with previously developed methods for tidal estimation from altimeter data. The altimeter and drifter data are considered separately in their roles for estimating tides and for cross-validating estimates obtained with independent data. Estimates obtained from altimetry and drifter data are found to agree remarkably well in regions where the drifter trajectories are spatially dense; however, heterogeneity of the drifter trajectories is a disadvantage when they are considered alone for tidal estimation. When the different data types are combined by using geodetic mission altimetry to cross validate estimates obtained with either exact-repeat altimetry or drifter data, and subsequently averaging the latter estimates, the estimates significantly improve on the previously published HRET8.1 model, as measured by their utility for predicting sea level and surface currents in the open ocean. The methodology has been applied to estimate the annual modulations of M2, which are found to have much smaller amplitudes compared to those reported in HRET8.1, and suggest that the latter estimates of these tides were not reliable. Significance Statement The mechanical and thermodynamic forcing of the ocean occurs primarily at very large scales associated with the gravitational perturbations of the sun and moon (tides), atmospheric wind stress, and solar insolation, but the frictional forces within the ocean act on very small scales. This research addresses the question of how the large-scale tidal forcing is transformed into the smaller-scale motion capable of being influenced by friction. The results show where internal waves are generated and how they transport energy across ocean basins to eventually be dissipated by friction. The results are useful to scientists interested in mapping the flows of mechanical energy in the ocean and predicting their influences on marine life, ocean temperature, and ocean currents.

Internal Tides at the Coast: Energy Flux of Baroclinic Tides Propagating into the Deep Ocean in the Presence of Supercritical Shelf Topography

Abstract The generation of internal tides at coastal margins is an important mechanism for the loss of energy from the barotropic tide. Although some previous studies attempted to quantify energy loss from the barotropic tides into the deep ocean, global estimates are complicated by the coastal geometry and spatially and temporally variable stratification. Here, we explore the effects of supercritical, finite amplitude bottom topography, which is difficult to solve analytically. We conduct a suite of 2D linear numerical simulations of the barotropic tide interacting with a uniform alongshore coastal shelf, representing the tidal forcing by a body force derived from the vertical displacement of the isopycnals by the gravest coastal trapped wave (of which a Kelvin wave is a close approximation). We explore the effects of latitude, topographic parameters, and nonuniform stratification on the baroclinic tidal energy flux propagating into the deep ocean away from the shelf. By varying the pycnocline depth and thickness, we extend previous studies of shallow and infinitesimally thin pycnoclines to include deep permanent pycnoclines. We find that scaling laws previously derived in terms of continental shelf width and depth for shallow and thin pycnoclines generally hold for the deeper and thicker pycnoclines considered in this study. We also find that baroclinic tidal energy flux is more sensitive to topographic than stratification parameters. Interestingly, we find that the slope of the shelf itself is an important parameter but not the width of the continental slope in the case of these steep topographies. Significance Statement The objective of this study is to better understand how vertical density stratification, which can vary seasonally in the ocean, affects the interaction of tides with steep coastal topography and the generation of waves that travel away from the coast in the ocean interior. These waves in the interior can travel over long distances, carrying energy offshore into the deep ocean. Our results suggest that the amount of energy in these internal waves is more sensitive to changes in topography and latitude than to the vertical density profile. The scaling laws found in this study suggest which parameters are important for calculating global estimates of the energy lost from the tide to the ocean interior at the coastal margins.

Nonlinear Interactions of Sea‐Level Rise and Storm Tide Alter Extreme Coastal Water Levels: How and Why?

AbstractSea‐level rise (SLR) increasingly threatens coastal communities around the world. However, not all coastal communities are equally threatened, and realistic estimation of hazard is difficult. Understanding SLR impacts on extreme sea level is challenging due to interactions between multiple tidal and non‐tidal flood drivers. We here use global hourly tidal data to show how and why tides and surges interact with mean sea level (MSL) fluctuations. At most locations around the world, the amplitude of at least one tidal constituent and/or amplitude of non‐tidal residual have changed in response to MSL variation over the past few decades. In 37% of studied locations, “Potential Maximum Storm Tide” (PMST), a proxy for extreme sea level dynamics, co‐varies with MSL variations. Over all stations, the median PMST will be 20% larger by the mid‐century, and conventional approaches that simply shift the current storm tide regime up at the rate of projected SLR may underestimate the flooding hazard at these locations by up to a factor of four. Micro‐ and meso‐tidal systems and those with diurnal tidal regime are generally more susceptible to altered MSL than other categories. The nonlinear interactions of MSL and storm tide captured in PMST statistics contribute, along with projected SLR, to the estimated increase in flood hazard at three‐fourth of studied locations by mid‐21st century. PMST is a threshold that captures nonlinear interactions between extreme sea level components and their co‐evolution over time. Thus, use of this statistic can help direct assessment and design of critical coastal infrastructure.

Salt intrusion dynamics in a well-mixed sub-estuary connected to a partially to well-mixed main estuary

Abstract. Salt intrusion in estuaries has been exacerbated by climate change and human activities. Previous studies have primarily focused on salt intrusion in the mainstem of estuaries, whereas those in sub-estuaries (those that branch off their main estuaries) have received less attention. During an extended La Niña event from 2021 to 2022, a sub-estuary (the East River estuary) alongside the Pearl River estuary, China, experienced severe salt intrusions, posing a threat to the freshwater supply in the surrounding area. Observations revealed that maximum salinities in the main estuary typically preceded spring tides, exhibiting significant asymmetry in salinity rise and fall over a fortnightly timescale. In contrast, in the upstream region of the sub-estuary, the variation in salinity was in phase with that of the tidal range, and the rise and fall of the salinity were more symmetrical. Inspired by these observations, we employed idealized numerical models and analytical solutions to investigate the underlying physics behind these behaviors. It was discovered that under normal dry conditions (with a river discharge of 1500 m3 s−1 at the head of the main estuary), the river–tide interaction and change in horizontal dispersion accounted for the in-phase relationship between the salinity and tidal range in the upstream region of the sub-estuary. Under extremely dry conditions (i.e., a river discharge of 500 m3 s−1 at the head of the main estuary), salinity variations were in phase with those of the tidal range in the middle as well as the upstream region of the sub-estuary. The variation in salinity in the main estuary along with those in salt dispersion and freshwater influx inside the sub-estuary collectively influenced salinity variation in the well-mixed sub-estuary. These findings have important implications for water resource management and salt intrusion prevention in the catchment area.

Wave–Tide Interaction by Typhoon Ampil on Wave and Storm Surge in the Changjiang River Estuary and Its Adjacent Coastal Areas

The study used the SCHISM ocean model combined with the WWM III wind wave model to quantify the interaction between wind waves and tides in the coastal zone of the Changjiang River Estuary and its adjacent areas. The wave and storm surge during Typhoon Ampil, which made landfall in July 2018 in Shanghai, were simulated by using the Climate Forecast System Version 2 (CFSv2) and Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) latest reanalysis (ERA5) wind dataset from 1 July to 31 July. Model results with CFSv2 forcing show better performance in terms of significant wave height and storm surge than those with ERA5 forcing. To investigate the interactions between waves, water levels, currents, and their combined effects on significant wave and surge variations, six numerical sensitivity experiments were designed according to the different coupling methods between SCHISM and WWMIII. The research shows that in coastal areas with water depths of less than 10 m, waves are affected by water levels and currents. The differences in the effect on significant wave height between wave-tide coupling and one-way coupling with water levels and currents are negligible. Wave setup is an important physical term which cannot be ignored during the variations of storm surge caused by Typhoon Ampil. The contributions of wave set up were concentrated in coastal areas with water depths less than 10 m. The peak wave setup occurred in the Changjiang River Estuary, reaching 0.15 m. In Xiangshan Bay and Sanmen Bay, wave radiation stress makes the proportion of wave setup to the total surge reached more than 30%. The consideration of wave-tide interaction can effectively improve the accuracy of numerical wave and storm surge simulations, which can provide more accurate hindcasts of wave and storm surge variations in the Changjiang River Estuary and its adjacent coastal areas.

Simulation of Storm Surge Heights Based on Reconstructed Historical Typhoon Best Tracks Using Expanded Wind Field Information

A numerical model integrating tides, waves, and surges can accurately evaluate the surge height (SH) risks of tropical cyclones. Furthermore, incorporating the external forces exerted by the storm’s wind field can help to accurately reproduce the SH. However, the lack of long-term typhoon best track (BT) data degrades the SH evaluations of past events. Moreover, archived BT data (BTD) for older typhoons contain less information than recent typhoon BTD. Thus, herein, the wind field structure, specifically its relationship with the central air pressure, maximum wind speed, and wind radius, are augmented. Wind formulae are formulated with empirically adjusted radii and the maximum gradient wind speed is correlated with the central pressure. Furthermore, the process is expanded to four quadrants through regression analyses using historical asymmetric typhoon advisory data. The final old typhoon BTs are converted to a pseudo automated tropical cyclone forecasting format for consistency. Validation tests of the SH employing recent BT and reconstructed BT (rBT) indicate the importance of the nonlinear interactions of tides, waves, and surges for the macrotidal west and microtidal south coasts of Korea. The expanded wind fields—rBT—based on the historical old BT successfully assess the return periods of the SH. The proposed process effectively increases typhoon population data by incorporating actual storm tracks.

Estimating water levels caused by a tropical storm along the Bangladesh coast: A numerical approach

In this study, water levels resulting from the dynamic interaction of tide and surge are estimated by solving a 2-D vertically integrated shallow water equations numerically. To solve the equations on the specific 2-D grid, the explicit Leapfrog scheme is implemented, adopting a staggered Arakawa C-grid. The domain's complex land-sea interface is approximated through the stair-step method in order to employ the finite difference technique. To incorporate the complexity of the domain with a considerably high accuracy and to reduce computational cost, one-way nested grid models are embraced. The Meghna River freshwater discharge is incorporated into the innermost child model. A stable tidal regime over the region of interest is generated by applying the four vital tidal constituents, namely M2 (principal lunar semidiurnal), S2 (principal solar semidiurnal), O1 (principal lunar diurnal) and K1 (luni-solar diurnal) in the southern open boundary of the outermost model. This previously effectuated tidal regime is used as the initial state of the sea in getting total water levels due to the dynamic interaction of tide and surge. Numerical experiments are performed with the storm AILA that hit the coast of Bangladesh on May 25, 2009. The simulated results are found to closely match observed and reported data.

Drivers of seasonal and decadal change on an estuarine beach in a fetch-limited temperate embayment

Beaches in estuaries and bays (BEBs) are critical landforms along many coastlines, providing vital protection to human infrastructure and ecosystem services. Like open-ocean beaches, their morphodynamics are driven by the interaction of waves and tides with the boundary conditions determined by sediment supply and geology. However, as estuaries and bays tend to be lower energy than the open ocean, and are often fetch limited, BEB behaviour is typically controlled by high magnitude events rather than modal conditions. In this study, we assess the dynamics of a BEB in a semi-enclosed bay (Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia). We analyse shoreline and subaerial cross sectional beach change across a range of time scales, including in response to storm events, using a combination of aerial photography, satellite imagery and UAV-based surveys spanning multiple decades. The study assesses the impact of geological controls on beach dynamics in this estuarine/embayed setting, investigating the impact of an intertidal rocky reef and the role of sediment budgets. The rocky outcrops throughout the compartment appear to exert little long-term control on beach morphology. We find that the location of the beach with respect to the sediment compartment boundaries is fundamental to determining long-term shoreline evolution. St Leonards Beach is located near the boundary between two longshore transport systems flowing in opposite directions. This results in low sediment flux across the compartment and therefore a paucity of sand supply for beach and dune development. As a consequence, the beach is relatively stable on a seasonal scale, but has a net erosional trend over the 75-year aerial photographic record. Erosion appears to be event driven as sand is transported out of the sediment compartment during storms. This work shows the importance of understanding local boundary conditions especially local sediment budgets in estuarine environments when analysing beach dynamics.

The interaction of tide and river flow on water quality in Hai Phong coastal waters (Lach Huyen - Do Son) drawn from field observation

This paper presents the results of a study on the impacts of the interaction of tide and river flow on water quality at the Hai Phong coastal water, outside the Nam Trieu estuary and Lach Huyen, drawn from field observation from October 14, 2022, to October 17, 2022. During the field observation, the dissolved oxygen concentration was measured, and water samples were taken at the surface, mid-depth, and bottom of 8 observational points at 1:00, 7:00, 13:00, and 19:00 h. Five sewage wastewater samples at Do Son coast and 6 coastal and river water samples were also taken. The collected seawater samples were laboratory analyzed to determine the concentration of BOD5, COD, TN, and TP. Additionally, the concentration of ions NH4+, NO2-, NO3-, and PO43- are determined by analyzing collected coastal, river, and sewage water samples and seawater samples at mid-depth at all observational points in a laboratory. It was found that the concentration of essential nutrients and other environmental components in wastewater samples generally does not exceed those specified in Vietnam regulations. The discharge of wastewater during the field observation was minimal. Thus it could be expected that the wastewater would not have a notable influence on seawater quality in the marine study area. Consequently, the study area’s primary source of nutrient pollutants was rivers. Time variation of the concentration of environmental components reveals that the nutrient concentration in the marine study area strongly influences by the interaction of the tide and river flow. The concentration of dissolved oxygen and major nutrient components in seawater at 8 points was within the limit of Vietnam standard for coastal water. However, significant nutrient concentration exceeds thresholds for eutrophication.

Coastal flooding by wave, wind, tide interactions and related processes along the southern part of SW coast of India

Occurrences of coastal flash flooding events are not always associated with extreme events, which are often responsible for the high wave activity and ensuing flooding along coastal areas during the rough season. In the present study, the causative factors that led to a flash flood event at Valiyathura, Thiruvananthapuram, located along the southern part of the SW coast of India, during September 2018 have been investigated based on both field observations and numerical model studies. Numerical simulations reveal the presence of high period swells from the Southern Indian Ocean, leading to a rise in wave runup, coinciding with the Perigean Spring Tide (PST), along with the increased wind speed that sustained for more than 6 h, resulting in the piling up of nearshore waters and sudden flooding along the coast. This inference is well reflected in the beach morphology, particularly the sediment characteristics depicting the impact of coastal flooding. Further, field observations confirm that the nearshore wind–wave interaction prior to the event also contributed to the flooding. Thus, the study emphasizes the need for continuous monitoring of nearshore and other contributing factors such as waves, wind, tide, and beach morphological conditions for reliable predicting coastal flooding events and their probable impacts.

A data-driven model to quantify the impact of river discharge on tide-river dynamics in the Yangtze River estuary

Understanding the role of river discharge on tide-river dynamics is of essential importance for sustainable water management (flood control, salt intrusion, and navigation) in estuarine environments. It is well known that river discharge impacts fundamental tide-river dynamics, especially in terms of subtidal (residual water levels) and tidal properties (amplitudes and phases for different tidal constituents). However, the quantification of the impact of river discharge on tide-river dynamics is challenging due to the complex interactions of barotropic tides with channel geometry, bottom friction, and river discharge. In this study, we propose a data-driven model to quantify the impact of river discharge on tide-river dynamics, using water level time series data collected through long-term observations along an estuary with substantial variations in river discharge. The proposed model has a physically-based structure representing the tide-river interaction, and can be used to predict water level using river discharge as the sole predictor. The satisfactory correspondence of the model outputs with measurements at six gauging stations along the Yangtze River estuary suggest that the proposed model can serve as a powerful instrument to quantify the impacts of river discharge on tide-river dynamics (including time-varying tidal properties and tidal distortion), and separate the contribution made by riverine and tidal forcing on water level. The proposed approach is very efficient and can be applied to other estuaries showing considerable impacts of river discharge on tide-river dynamics.

Wave–Tide Interaction for a Strongly Modulated Wave Field

Abstract Observations from Coastal Data Information Program (CDIP) moored buoys off the coast of Florida reveal tidally driven wave–current interactions that modify significant wave heights by up to 25% and shift peak periods by up to a second. A case study at Fernandina Beach, Florida, shows surface waves steepening on following tidal currents and becoming less steep on opposing tidal currents, with the largest modulations occurring in the long-period swell band. To better understand tidal modulations as a function of the phase of the tide, we use simplified analytical and numerical solutions to the equations of geometrical optics and conservation of wave action under the assumption of a one-dimensional tide acting as a progressive shallow-water wave. The theoretical frameworks allow us to identify parameters that characterize the magnitude of variation in surface waves due to tidally induced currents and changes in water depth. We compute modulations to the omnidirectional and directional wave spectrum (between 0.05 and 0.15 Hz), as well as characteristic bulk parameters such as significant wave height and peak period. The theory is corroborated using directional wave and surface current observations from the Fernandina Beach CDIP station (located in water of average depth of 16 m). We find that the numerical results reproduce the observed wave modulations due to tidal currents and changes in water depth. Specifically, surface waves traveling in the direction of the tide are strongly modulated, and the relative speeds between the tide and surface waves set the sign and magnitude of these modulations. Given knowledge of tidal currents, water-depth variations, and wave climatology, theoretical and numerical predictions may be used to provide both statistical and instantaneous estimates of wave-height variations due to tides. Because operational forecasts and nowcasts do not routinely include tides or currents, these findings can help to accurately represent nearshore surface wave variability.

Wave modulations in the Indian coastal area due to wave–tide interactions

Wave modulations in the Indian coastal area due to wave–tide interactions

Effects of Mud Supply and Hydrodynamic Conditions on the Sedimentary Distribution of Estuaries: Insights from Sediment Dynamic Numerical Simulation

Estuaries are important sediment facies in the fluvial-to-marine transition zone, are strongly controlled by dynamic interactions of tides, waves, and fluvial flows, and show various changes in depositional processes and sediment distribution. Deep investigations on the sediment dynamic processes of the sand component of estuaries have been conducted; however, the understanding of how mud supply affects estuaries’ sedimentary characteristics and morphology is still in vague. Herein, the effects of mud concentration, mud transport properties, fluvial discharge, and tidal amplitude on the sedimentary characteristics of an estuary were systematically analyzed using sedimentary dynamic numerical simulation. The results show that the mud concentration has significant effects on the morphology of tidal channels in estuaries, which become more braided with a lower mud concentration, and straighter, with reduced channel migration, with a higher mud concentration. The mud transport properties, namely, setting velocity, critical bed shear stress for sedimentation, and erosion, mostly affect the ratio between the length and width (RLW) of the sand bar; a sheet-like sand bar with a lower RLW value develops in the lower settling velocity, while there are obvious strip shaped bars with a high RLW value in the higher settling velocity case. Moreover, the effects of hydrodynamic conditions on sedimentary distribution were analyzed by changing the tidal amplitudes and fluvial discharges. The results show that a higher tidal amplitude is often accompanied by a stronger tidal energy, which induces a more obvious seaward progradation, while a higher fluvial discharge usually yields a higher deposition rate and yields a greater deposition thickness. From the above numerical simulations, the statistical characteristics of tidal bars and mud interlayers were further obtained, which show good agreement with modern sedimentary characteristics. This study suggests that sedimentary dynamic numerical simulation can provide insights into an efficient quantitative method for analyzing the effects of mud components on the sediment processes of estuaries.