Leicheng Guo

River‐tide dynamics: Exploration of nonstationary and nonlinear tidal behavior in the Yangtze River estuary

River-tide dynamics remain poorly understood, in part because conventional harmonic analysis (HA) does not cope effectively with nonstationary signals. To explore nonstationary behavior of river tides and the modulation effects of river discharge, this work analyzes tidal signals in the Yangtze River estuary using both HA in a nonstationary mode and continuous wavelet transforms (CWT). The Yangtze is an excellent natural laboratory to analyze river tides because of its high and variable flow, its length, and the fact that there are do dams or reflecting barriers within the tidal part of the system. Analysis of tidal frequencies by CWT and analysis of subtidal water level and tidal ranges reveal a broad range of subtidal variations over fortnightly, monthly, semiannual, and annual frequencies driven by subtidal variations in friction and by variable river discharges. We employ HA in a nonstationary mode (NSHA) by segregating data within defined flow ranges into separate analyses. NSHA quantifies the decay of the principal tides and the modulation of M4 tide with increasing river discharges. M4 amplitudes decrease far upriver (landward portion of the estuary) and conversely increase close to the ocean as river discharge increases. The fortnightly frequencies reach an amplitude maximum upriver of that for over tide frequencies, due to the longer wavelength of the fortnightly constituents. These methods and findings should be applicable to large tidal rivers globally and have broad implications regarding management of navigation channels and ecosystems in tidal rivers.

The role of river flow and tidal asymmetry on 1‐D estuarine morphodynamics

Numerous research efforts have been devoted to understanding estuarine morphodynamics under tidal forcing. However, the impact of river discharge on estuarine morphodynamics is insufficiently examined. Inspired by the Yangtze Estuary, this work explores the morphodynamic impact of river discharge in a 560 km long tidal basin based on a 1-D model (Delft3D). The model considers total load sediment transport and employs a morphodynamic updating scheme to achieve long-term morphodynamic evolution. We analyze the role of Stokes drift, tidal asymmetry, and river discharge in generating tidal residual sediment transport. Model results suggest that morphodynamic equilibrium is approached within millennia by vanishing spatial gradients of tidal residual sediment transport. We find that the interaction between ebb-directed Stokes return flow/river flow with tides is an important mechanism that flushes river-supplied sediment seaward. Increasing river discharge does not induce continuously eroded or accreted equilibrium bed profiles because of the balance between riverine sediment supply and sediment flushing to the sea. An intermediate threshold river discharge can be defined which leads to a deepest equilibrium bed profile. As a result, the shape (concavity or convexity) of the equilibrium bed profiles will adapt with the magnitude of river discharge. Overall, this study reveals the significant role of river discharge in controlling estuarine morphodynamics by supplying sediment and reinforcing ebb-directed residual sediment transport.

Exploring the impacts of multiple tidal constituents and varying river flow on long‐term, large‐scale estuarine morphodynamics by means of a 1‐D model

Tidal asymmetry is an important mechanism generating tidal residual sediment transport (TRST) in tidal environments. So far, it is known that a number of tidal interactions (e.g., M2-M4 and M2-O1-K1) can induce tidal asymmetry and associated TRST; however, their variability and morphodynamic impacts are insufficiently explored. Inspired by the river and tidal forcing conditions in the Yangtze River Estuary, we explore the morphodynamic development of a 560 km long estuary under the boundary forcing conditions of varyingly combined tidal constituents and river discharges using a schematized 1-D morphodynamic model for long-term (millennial) simulations. We then employ an analytical scheme which integrates sediment transport as a function of flow velocities to decompose the contribution of different tidal interactions on TRST and to explain how the river and tidal interactions control TRST and associated morphodynamics. Model results display varying equilibrium bed profiles. Analytical results suggest that (1) a series of tidal interactions creates multiple tidal asymmetries and associated TRST, (2) river flow modulates tidal asymmetry nonlinearly in space, and (3) more tidal constituents at the sea boundary persistently enhance the seaward TRST through river-tide interactions. It is the combined effects of multiple tidal asymmetries and river-tide interactions that determine the net TRST and consequent morphodynamic development. It thus suggests that tidal harmonics of significant amplitudes need to be considered properly as boundary conditions for long-term, large-scale morphodynamic modeling.

Changjiang Estuary Sediment Transport Dynamics

This chapter deals with river flow and sediment transports in the Changjiang River continuum. We first briefly introduce riverine flow and sediment discharges acting on the estuary and their variations in the past half century. There is an ongoing decrease in sediment discharge since the 1980s, which has accelerated since 2003 when the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) commenced operation. In situ flocculation of suspended sediment is detected in the freshwater river and the blackish estuary, affecting sediment transport in the system. In the estuary, changes in sediment concentrations and grain sizes are observed in response to reduced river-borne sediment load. Analysis of sediment grain sizes, suspended sediment concentration (SSC), and the clay–silt–sand content of the sediments in the estuary reveals the presence of a nearshore depocenter featured by high sediment exchange ratio off the South Passage. Numerical experiments of estuarine circulation and water age suggest that large-scale engineering works have had marked impact on the regional hydrodynamics. Overall, the river, the estuary, and the marginal sea are inherently connected through the water and sediment linkage; therefore, systematical insights on their hydro-, morpho-, and eco-dynamics are required.