River-Mouth System, Deltas and Estuaries

Source: Zhongyuan Chen

A)  Large estuarine systems are “hotspots” of fluxes of water and dissolved substances,  as well as particulate matter and  sediments.
 A better understanding of the physical and human scale of river-basin-estuary is urgently needed for  better integrated coastal management. LOICZ  researches the dynamic, estuarine processes  linking the river  and the coast to understand the changes in the state of adjacent coastal and marine ecosystems and  habitats.  (modified from Seitzinger, S. P. and Lee, R.Y., 2006:  

modified from Seitzinger, S. P. and Lee, R.Y., 2006

Source: Zhongyuan Chen

B) Significant changes to the present river basin-estuary systems include:
- Damming, which is reducing sediment supply and increasing the age of the water reaching the estuary;
- Overextraction of groundwater, which is causing subsidence; (Syvitski et al., 2009),
- Decrease in the turbidity of the estuarine water;
- Climate change warming;
- Intensifying anthropogenic activities, which increase the fluxes of  nutrients and contaminants;
- Acidification of estuaries.