Characteristics of water and sediment transport in the Qiongzhou Strait
琼州海峡水沙输运特征研究

As the southernmost strait of China, the Qiongzhou Strait connects the Beibu Gulf and the South China Sea, and is very important to Hainan Province in terms of environmental protection and resources management The tidal process in the Qiongzhou Strait is very active, with average tidal current speeds of 0 15 0 74 ms -1 (springs) and 0 12 0 51 ms -1 (neaps) Suspended sediment concentrations in the strait during spring and neap tides are rather close (0 028 and 0 026 kgm -3 , respectively), but with clear temporal and spatial changes Suspended sediment transport flux of the strait varies at about 30 11,000 kgm -1 tide -1 Tide and/or wave induced sediment resuspension has a great influence on the suspended sediment concentration and transportflux In the same time, tidal currents also produce bed load sediment transport across the strait, with a maximum bed load sediment transport flux of 16,400 kgm -1 tide -1 On the whole, affected by tidal wave systems and topographic configuration of the strait, the north bank of the Qiongzhou Strait is dominated by westward water and sediment transport while NE and/or SE transport dominate the south bank Regionally, tidal current speeds, residual tidal current speeds and suspended sediment transport fluxes are all higher in spring tides than in neap tides, and in the north bank than in the south bank of the strait Future studies require detailed wave observation for a better understanding of the wave process and the combined processes of tides and waves