Abstract
Globally mud areas on continental shelves are sinks from the dispersal of fluvial-sourced sediments. This talk addresses a fundamental issue in sediment dynamics focusing on how mud is retained on the seabed on shallow inner shelves. Through a process-based comprehensive study that integrates dynamics, provenance, and sedimentology, we show that the key mechanism to keep mud on the seabed is the water-column stratification that forms vertical and lateral dynamic barriers that restrict the upward mixing and seaward transport of suspended sediments. We studied the 1000 km-long mud belt that extends from the mouth of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River along the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces of China and ends on the west coast of Taiwan. This mud belt system is dynamically attached to the fluvial sources, of which the Changjiang River is the primary one. Winter is the constructive phase when active deposition takes place of fine-grained sediment carried mainly by the Changjiang plume driven by Zhe-Min Coastal Currents southwestward along the coast.
Bio
Employment
Postdoctoral Investigator, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts, USA (1988-1989)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Florida, USA (1989-1991)
Research Scientist II, Florida Institute of Technology, Florida, USA (1991-1993)
Associate Professor, Institute of Marine Geology and Chemistry, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung (1994-1998)
Professor, Department of Oceanography (formerly Institute of Marine Geology and Chemistry), National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung (1998-present)
Research Interest and expertise
Coastal geology, coastal and estuarine sediment dynamics, coastal change, submarine canyon oceanography, marine hyperpycnal flow and sedimentation
Honor
Award for Research Excellence, Taiwan Ministry of Science of Technology
