内波影响下南海东沙海底沙波发育及迁移演化研究

Development, migration and evolution of submarine sandwaves in the Dongsha Atoll of the South China Sea under the influence of internal waves

  • 摘要: 海底沙波是河口、海湾、陆架陆坡区域常见的波状砂质地貌,因其形态发育特征能反映区域水动力环境,故受到学者的广泛关注。在海洋水动力作用下海底沙波会发生迁移,易造成海底管道悬空掩埋、近岸航道淤积、油气平台倾覆等危害。因此,对其进行研究具有重要的理论意义和工程价值。本研究依托2020年与2022年在南海东沙环礁东北部沙波区开展的现场观测工作,对该区域沙波的形态发育特征、迁移演化过程与动力来源等内容进行研究。结果表明,观测到的沙波发育水深在700~830 m范围,波长范围为140~400 m,波高范围为1.4~16.5 m,属于巨型沙波。通过对Shields参数进行计算发现,研究区沙波的脊线展布方向、迁移方向均主要受区域内潮影响。在内潮影响下,研究区沙波脊线沿NNE-SSW向展布,并以10 m/a的速度向NWW方向迁移。上述研究,不仅丰富了对南海东沙区域深海沙波发育特征的认识,而且为内波对深海沙波迁移演化影响提供了新的视角,这些都将有助于开展更为系统的深海沙波研究。

     

    Abstract: Submarine sandwaves are common undulating sandy landforms in estuaries, bays, continental shelf, and continental slope regions. Due to the fact that their morphological development characteristics can reflect the regional hydrodynamic environment, they have attracted extensive attention from scholars. Under the action of marine hydrodynamic forces, submarine sandwaves could migrate, which is likely to cause hazards such as the suspension and burial of submarine pipelines, the silting of nearshore channels, and the overturning of offshore oil and gas platforms. Therefore, the study on submarine sandwaves is of great theoretical significance and engineering value. Based on the field observation work carried out in the sandwave area in the northeast of the Dongsha Atoll in the South China Sea in 2020 and 2022, the morphological development characteristics, migration and evolution processes, and dynamic sources of the sandwaves in this area were analyzed. Results indicate that the observed sandwaves developed at 700~830 m water depth with wave length of 140~400 m and wave height of 1.4~16.5 m, could be classified as giant sandwaves. By the calculation with the Shields parameter, we found that both the distribution direction of the crest lines and the migration direction of the sandwaves in the study area were mainly influenced by the regional internal tide. Under the influence of the internal tide, the crest lines of the sandwaves were distributed along the NNE-SSW direction and migrate towards the NWW direction at speed of 10 m/a. These findings enriched our understanding of the development characteristics of deep-sea sandwaves in the Dongsha Atoll of the South China Sea, provided a new perspective on the influence of internal waves on the migration and evolution of deep-sea sandwaves, and contributed to more systematic research on deep-sea sandwaves.

     

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