THE DYNAMICS OF TIDAL FLAT GEO-ENVIRONMENTS IN AN ESTUARY

摘要

Despite comprehensive studies being made on the hydroecological environments of tidal flats, the geo-environments inside tidal flat soils remain poorly explored. The paper presents the results from recent field observations targeting the dynamics of suction which represents soil moisture tension and the associated geo-environments in an intertidal sandy flat of an estuary. The mechanism of water retention of the soil surface layer involving the simultaneous processes of evaporation, upward moisture movement and salinity accumulation is particularly noteworthy. Furthermore, the internal geo-structures of the sandy flat as obtained from shallow seismic survey are illustrated and discussed as a consequence of such geo-environmental dynamics.