Dynamics and drivers of tidal flat morphology in China

Dynamics and drivers of tidal flat morphology in China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Dynamics and drivers of tidal flat morphology in China Zhan Hu, Shuai Liu, Tim Grandjean, Zheng Bing Wang, Vincent T. M. Zelst, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4209550/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 04 Mar, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Recent remote sensing analysis has revealed extensive loss of tidal flats, yet the mechanisms driving these large-scale changes remain enigmatic. This study traces the spatiotemporal variations of 2538 tidal flat transects across China to elucidate how their morphological features vary with external factors, including suspended sediment concentration (SSC), tidal range, and wave height. We observe a correlation between flat width and SSC distribution, and between flat slope and tidal range. A national-wide decline in flat width is observed together with SSC reduction between 2002 and 2016. Intriguingly, sediment-rich flats exhibit a more rapid response to SSC reduction compared to sediment-starving areas, but the converse is observed with SSC increase. These conditional responses stem from the morphodynamic tendency towards equilibrium, which is well explained by synthetical modeling. This finding suggests that tidal flats are resilient to sediment supply reduction, and nation-scale sediment allocation can assist in preserving valuable intertidal areas. Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files Chinatidalflat.csv Dataset 1 supplementarymaterialsChinatidalflat.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 04 Mar, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4209550","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":291886870,"identity":"542cf8a4-f535-4f34-af9f-be96c7afe3d5","order_by":0,"name":"Zhan Hu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA70lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAwYGNoYPFUCSHS6WQFgL44wzQJKZFC3MvG1AFtFazCXSnz3mnbdNno+Zgfkzz5/DDPzsOQYMP3fg1mI5IyHdcO6224ZtzAxs0rxthxkke94YMPaeweOwGwnHJN5uu80I0sLM23AYKJJjwMzYhk9LYpsE75zb9m0wh9kT1pLMJsnbcDsRqIVBmocNaIsEIS1nnrFJzjh2O7kNqExybls6j8SZZwUHe/FpOZ7+TOJDzW3b+e3Nhz+8+WMtx9+evPHBTzxakABjAxMPAwMPiHmAKA1gTT+IVjoKRsEoGAUjCQAAbjFMWuYcsp4AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2809-3718","institution":"Sun Yat-Sen University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zhan","middleName":"","lastName":"Hu","suffix":""},{"id":291886871,"identity":"9c00168a-e311-4020-8897-17523a4f6d0f","order_by":1,"name":"Shuai Liu","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9202-6607","institution":"Sun Yat-Sen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shuai","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""},{"id":291886872,"identity":"6112157f-2e00-441b-a84e-9a0b8ce7c154","order_by":2,"name":"Tim Grandjean","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2729-3566","institution":"Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tim","middleName":"","lastName":"Grandjean","suffix":""},{"id":291886873,"identity":"b74f9b3a-547e-4e77-b78a-e6c1b17e163f","order_by":3,"name":"Zheng Bing Wang","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8787-4530","institution":"Deltares \u0026 Delft University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zheng","middleName":"Bing","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":291886874,"identity":"6eda0a17-9d3d-426d-b742-87e7fdc41738","order_by":4,"name":"Vincent T. 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