SCOUR AND SILTING HISTORY OF MEISHANGANG CHANNEL

The Meishangang Channel is located between Chuanshan Peninsula and Meishan Island in the south of Hangzhou Bay to the west of Zhoushan Archipelago. It is a small tidal channel at the north bank of the Xiangshan Harbor entrance. Based on historical data, we studied coastline changes, shoal and channel changes, longitudinal profile changes, cross-sections changes and regional erosion and deposition patterns in this paper. An integrated analysis was made with the data of the observed tidal current, suspended sediment load, geomorphology, deposition, and human activities. Our study reveals that the morphology of the Meishangang Channel is deeply affected by land reclamation and dam building, and it is in a slow sedimentation trend as a whole. The Channel, according to its plane form and sediment transport, is a kind of flooding channel. The Qixingtu Reclamation Project will speed up the siltation within the Meishangang Channel.