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Calculating the sediment flux of the small coastal watersheds: a modification of global equations

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Abstract

Two kinds of regression equations are used to reproduce the sediment flux of the 26 small coastal watersheds in southeastern China. The first kind is the global equations suggested by Milliman and Syvitski (1992), Mulder and Syvitski (1996), Syvitski et al. (2003), and Syvitski and Milliman (2007). The second kind is the modified equations revised by the characteristics of the coastal watersheds, including the drainage area, mean water discharge, and mean sediment discharge. Compared with the observations of the hydrometric stations, the global equations overestimate the sediment flux by 1–2 orders of magnitude. By using the modified equations, the accuracy of the estimated sediment flux is significantly improved, with the relative error in the range of 7%–24%. The reason for the overestimation mainly caused by different parameters’ domain and regression coefficients between global rivers and study coastal watersheds. This study demonstrates that modification needs to be considered when using global regression equations to reproduce the sediment flux of the small coastal watersheds in southeastern China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Technology, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China

    Gaocong Li, Qiong Xia, Dongyang Fu & Zhiqiang Li

  2. Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, 519000, China

    Qiong Xia

  3. College of Ocean Engineering, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China

    Chunhua Zeng

  4. State Key Laboratory for Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200046, China

    Shu Gao

Authors
  1. Gaocong Li
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  2. Qiong Xia
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  3. Dongyang Fu
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  4. Chunhua Zeng
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  5. Zhiqiang Li
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  6. Shu Gao
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Qiong Xia or Zhiqiang Li.

Additional information

Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41625021, 41676079 and 41906021; the Project of Enhancing School with Innovation of Guangdong Ocean University under contract No. Q18307; the Program for Scientific Research Start-up Funds of Guangdong Ocean University under contract No. 060302112010.

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Li, G., Xia, Q., Fu, D. et al. Calculating the sediment flux of the small coastal watersheds: a modification of global equations. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 40, 147–154 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-020-1615-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-020-1615-z

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