Wang X., Xiao X., Zou Z., Chen B., Ma J., Dong J., Li X.

Harmonious development of utilization and protection of tidal flats and wetlandsda case study in Shanghai area. Sedimentary characteristics and evolution of radial sand ridges in the south yellow sea. Wang Y., Zhu D.K., Zhou L.F., Wang X.Y., Jiang S.L., Li H.Y., Shi B.W., Zhang Y.Z. Our findings will provide useful information for local managers and researchers to support future environmental management because increasing demand for land and rising sea levels are expected in the future.Ĭoastal revolution human activities modern radial sand ridges tidal flats. In addition, the erosion of the tidal flats was associated with a reduced sediment supply.

Land reclamation was the main factor affecting the reduction in the tidal flat area, as the reclamation area has increased by 1300 km 2, with an average of 35.14 km 2/year. We also found that the coastal tidal flats in the modern RSRs were generally undergoing erosion in the low tidal flats, especially in the Northern Swing and Southern Swing areas, while the high tidal flats showed a slowed accretionary change. The total tidal flat area in the study area showed an obviously decreasing trend overall, and approximately 992 km 2 of the tidal flat was lost.

We found that the shoreline of the tidal flats showed an advanced seaward trend, and the waterline of the tidal flat presented a gradual process during different periods. Hence, we employed a novel remote sensing method by obtaining the instantaneous high/low tide line positions from over 112 scenes of Landsat satellite images of the study area from 1975 to 2017, which were used to track the recent evolution of the coastal tidal flats in the modern RSRs over the past four decades. However, a comprehensive understanding of spatiotemporal changes in tidal flats in RSRs remains lacking. These tidal flats play a critical role in coastline protection and biodiversity conservation, and against storm surges, but have recently been displaying drastic changes in geomorphic dynamics because of human activities.

The coastal tidal flats of the modern Radial Sand Ridges (RSRs) are typical silt-muddy tidal flats in Central Jiangsu Province.

Coastal flats