Threshold sediment flux for the formation of river deltas in Hainan Island, southern China

Abstract: The knowledge of geomorphological evolution from an estuary to a river delta is
necessary to form the formulation of comprehensive land-ocean interaction management
strategies. In this study, the dominant factor controlling the geomorphological variability and
the threshold sediment flux (TSF) to form a river delta in Hainan Island, southern China, including
accommodation space, sediment supply, and reworking forces, was investigated by
the method of big data analytics. The results indicated the 25 estuaries in consideration can
be divided into three geographical groups, i.e. the multi-factors-controlled northern mixed
estuaries, wave-dominated western estuaries with river deltas, and typhoon-dominated
eastern coastal lagoon estuaries. For alluvial plain (AP) estuaries, the order of magnitude of
TSFs is the smallest (101 kt·yr–1), for barrier-lagoon (BL) ones is the highest (> 102 kt·yr–1), and
for drowned valley (DV) ones is moderate (102 kt·yr–1). The river deltas associated with DV
systems should be relatively large, and those related to BLs should be small, with the AP
deltas being between the above mentioned types. The present study provides a technique to
evaluate the role played by TSF for the formation of river deltas in micro-tidal and
wave-dominated and typhoon-influenced coastal environments.
Keywords: estuarine geomorphology; dominant factor; typhoon processes; threshold sediment flux; river delta; Hainan
Island
刊物名称: 
Journal of Geographical Sciences
年: 
2019
卷期: 
29(1)
页码: 
146-160
作者: 
LI Gaocong, ZHOU Liang, QI Yali, *GAO Shu
论文原文: