COASTLINE CRITERIA FOR LAND AREA OF THE HUANGHE RIVER DELTA AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE

The land area of the Huanghe River Delta is significant to the integrated estuary administration and management, national land planning, conservation and development of natural reserves and oil-gas exploitation and development. The adopted criteria for the time being include high tide line, low tide line, 0 m line upon the Huanghai datum and −2 m line upon the Huanghai datum from measured data, and high tide line, low tide line, water body line from Remote sensing satellite images. There are large differences in the figures of land increment per 1×10⁸ t sediment or so-called “land increment efficiency” among the data from the Lijin Station, the modern delta, the Qingshuigou course, and the Qing 8 course. The coastline from satellite images have big differences in some periods, due to the broad tidal flat with gentle slope. It is suggested that the −2 m line on the Huanghai datum is proper for studies of coastal progradation and retrogradation, water course avulsion and migration, and influences on lower reaches of the River. The main problem of the existing studies on the sediment for coastline dynamic balance is that data are not sufficient from recession periods. In order to maintain long term stabilization of current course, more work is required to study the sediment budget and coastal dynamic balance along the Qingshuigou course.