Sustained increase in suspended sediments near global river deltas over the past two decades

Xuejiao Hou; Danghan Xie; Lian Feng; Fang Shen; Jaap H. Nienhuis

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-47598-6

Sustained increase in suspended sediments near global river deltas over the past two decades

Xuejiao Hou
, Danghan Xie
, Lian Feng^*
, Fang Shen
, Jaap H. Nienhuis^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Coastal dynamics, Fluvial systems and Global change

extern
Southern University of Science and Technology
East China Normal University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

River sediments play a critical role in sustaining deltaic wetlands. Therefore, concerns are raised about wetlands’ fate due to the decline of river sediment supply to many deltas. However, the dynamics and drivers of suspended sediment near deltaic coasts are not comprehensively assessed, and its response to river sediment supply changes remains unclear. Here we examine patterns of coastal suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and river sediment plume area (RPA) for 349 deltas worldwide using satellite images from 2000 to 2020. We find a global increase in SSC and RPA, averaging +0.46% and +0.48% yr⁻¹, respectively, with over 59.0% of deltas exhibiting an increase in both SSC and RPA. SSC and RPA increases are prevalent across all continents, except for Asia. The relationship between river sediment supply and coastal SSCs varies between deltas, with as much as 45.2% of the deltas showing opposing trends between river sediments and coastal SSCs. This is likely because of the impacts of tides, waves, salinity, and delta morphology. Our observed increase in SSCs near river delta paints a rare promising picture for wetland resilience against sea-level rise, yet whether this increase will persist remains uncertain.

Original language	English
Article number	3319
Number of pages	12
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	15
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47598-6
Publication status	Published - 18 Apr 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.

Funding

We thank the NASA LP DAAC for providing MODIS SR data and GEE for providing image processing resources. We also thank Dr. Murray for providing the wetland area change data and Dr. Dethier for providing the river sediment flux data. L.F.,\u00A0X.H.,\u00A0and F.S. were supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos: 42321004,\u00A042301392,\u00A0and\u00A042271348). X.H. was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Sun Yat-Sen University (NO: 23qnpy08). J.N. was supported by the National Science Foundation (EAR-GLD-1810855) and the Dutch Research Council (VENI.192.123).

Funders	Funder number
NASA LP DAAC
Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
National Science Foundation	EAR-GLD-1810855
Sun Yat-Sen University	23qnpy08
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek	VENI.192.123
National Natural Science Foundation of China	42301392, 42321004, 42271348

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title = "Sustained increase in suspended sediments near global river deltas over the past two decades",

abstract = "River sediments play a critical role in sustaining deltaic wetlands. Therefore, concerns are raised about wetlands{\textquoteright} fate due to the decline of river sediment supply to many deltas. However, the dynamics and drivers of suspended sediment near deltaic coasts are not comprehensively assessed, and its response to river sediment supply changes remains unclear. Here we examine patterns of coastal suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and river sediment plume area (RPA) for 349 deltas worldwide using satellite images from 2000 to 2020. We find a global increase in SSC and RPA, averaging +0.46\% and +0.48\% yr−1, respectively, with over 59.0\% of deltas exhibiting an increase in both SSC and RPA. SSC and RPA increases are prevalent across all continents, except for Asia. The relationship between river sediment supply and coastal SSCs varies between deltas, with as much as 45.2\% of the deltas showing opposing trends between river sediments and coastal SSCs. This is likely because of the impacts of tides, waves, salinity, and delta morphology. Our observed increase in SSCs near river delta paints a rare promising picture for wetland resilience against sea-level rise, yet whether this increase will persist remains uncertain.",

author = "Xuejiao Hou and Danghan Xie and Lian Feng and Fang Shen and Nienhuis, \{Jaap H.\}",

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PY - 2024/4/18

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Sustained increase in suspended sediments near global river deltas over the past two decades

Abstract

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