COASTAL EVOLUTION OF SOUTHERN COAST OF LAIZHOU BAY DURING 1973-2016 AND MAINTANENCE COUNTERMEASURES

Coastal erosion is getting intensified due to global climate warming and sea-level rising. It brings great challenges to coastal communities for coastal construction, economic development and environmental protection. Research on coastline evolution will provide a theoretical support to the sustainable development of coastal cities, such as Weifang, and to the development strategy of Shandong on the Sea.In this article, six coastlines in the years of 1973, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2016 respectively are picked up to detect the evolution of coastal landscape of southern Laizhou Bay from landsat satellite images.The research results indicate the coastline evolution in southern coast of Laizhou Bay is in a periodic pattern in the past forty years, as a responding to the construction and economic development of the coastal region. The coast has changed from the natural to the artificial coast in general.The coastlines protected by large-scale coastal constructions, will move gradually to the sea. For the other part where natural coasts dominate, however, coastal lines will retreat towards the land. The coastline evolution of southern Laizhou Bay is mainly influenced by three major factors:the global sea level rise, the decrease in water and sediment discharge and human activities. The natural factors dominated the coastal evolution during 1973-1990, while the human activities predominated after 2000. Sea level rise will give rise to a slow but sustain pressure to the coastal protection and reconstruction of erosion coast in southern Laizhou Bay. Therefore, long-term observation is suggested to monitor the coastline evolution for prevention of coastal erosion in the region.Legislation and management should be enforced.