Types and Changing Trends of Sediments in the Coastal Watersof Shandong Province

Abstract

Based on the survey data of surface sediments in Shandong coastal waters, the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of sediment granularity and its influencing factors were analyzed. The results showed that in 2020, the grain size of surface sediments in Shandong coastal waters gradually decreased from shore to sea, and silt content was the highest, with an average of 66.45%, sand content was the second, with an average of 26.78%, clay content was lower, with an average of 6.77%. There were significant differences in the spatial distribution of sediment grain fractions, including silty sand, sandy silty sand, silty sand and sand, and silty sand was dominant, accounting for 61.9% of the survey site. From 2016 to 2020, an overall coarsening trend of surface sediments in Shandong coastal waters was detected. And the trend was more obvious in the coastal waters of Rizhao, Qingdao, Weifang and Binzhou, followed by Dongying, and the lowest in Yantai and Weihai. The main influencing factors of the temporal and spatial characteristics of sediment granularity include provenance, regional hydrodynamic conditions (such as the Bohai Sea Current, Yellow Sea Current, Shandong Coastal Current, etc.), and coastal engineering construction, and furthermore, the specific influencing mechanism still needs further investigation and research. The research results could provide a reference for the analysis of changes in sediment types and the protection and utilization of coastal zones in the coastal waters of Shandong Province.

Keywords

• coastal waters
• sediment
• granularity
• temporal and spatial variation
• influencing factor
• shandong province