Reclamation in estuaries can greatly change the channel geometry and hydrodynamic conditions and these changes may have significant impacts on spatial and temporal distribution of the turbidity maximum zone. This study focuses on the effects of a large area of reclamation built in 2007–2018 and the behavior of the turbidity maximum zone along the North Channel of the Yangtze Estuary. Data were collected of bathymetry in the North Channel, tidal elevations at Sheshan Station, river discharge at Datong Station and turbidity, retrieved from six Landsat remote sensing images in the dry season from 2006 to 2019. In-situ measured data on flow velocity and suspended sediment concentration were obtained in the dry season of 2003 and 2018. Analysis of the data revealed that reclamations, which led to narrowing (0.86–2.74 km) and fixing of the channel, caused erosion of 0.19–3.72 m in the deep channel and deposition on the tidal flats. Furthermore, it was found that the length of the turbidity maximum zone decreased: its landward boundary shifted 5 km seaward during spring tide and 17 km seaward during neap tide in the dry season. The position of the seaward boundary wandered within a range of 3 km, being further downstream during neap tide than that during spring tide. A conceptual model of changes in the borders of the turbidity maximum zone in response to reclamation is proposed. After the reclamation works, the deeper and narrower channel intensified ebb-dominance of the flow velocity. The coarsening of bed sediment weakened resuspension and decreased the bottom tidally averaged suspended sediment concentration. These changes led to a significant decline in the depth-mean of tidally averaged suspended sediment concentration and caused the seaward movement of the landward boundary of the turbidity maximum zone.

河口开垦可以极大地改变河道几何形状和水动力条件，这些变化可能对最大浊度区的空间和时间分布产生重大影响。本研究重点研究了 2007-2018 年建成的大面积围垦的影响以及长江口北航道最大浊度带的行为。采集了2006-2019年旱季6幅Landsat遥感影像北航道水深、佘山站潮位、大同站河流流量和浊度数据。泥沙浓度是在 2003 年和 2018 年旱季获得的。 数据分析显示，填海造地导致河道变窄（0.86-2.74 公里）和固定，造成深水道中 0.19-3.72 m 的侵蚀和潮滩上的沉积。此外，发现最大浊度区的长度减少：其陆地边界在大潮时向海移动 5 公里，在旱季小潮时向海移动 17 公里。入海边界位置在3公里范围内徘徊，小潮时比大潮时更向下游。提出了响应填海的最大浊度区边界变化的概念模型。填海工程完成后，更深更窄的通道加剧了流速的下降优势。床底泥沙粗化减弱了再悬浮作用，降低了底部潮汐平均悬浮泥沙浓度。