A Synoptic Overview of Turbidity Distribution in Bohai and Yellow Seas，China

A field campaign has just begun in the coastal seas of Bohai and Yellow Sea wrapping around the Shandong Peninsula. The study is aimed at qualitatively charting the transport route of the Huanghe (Yellow River) sediment and quantitatively determining the sediment flux through the Bohai Strait (source) and the rate of sediment deposition within two “mud patches” in the northern Yellow Sea (sink). As the first act of the campaign we conducted a three-week long (August 17 – September 6, 2015) hydrographic survey in Bohai and Yellow Sea by taking CTD casts at more than 120 stations and box or gravity sediment cores at about 30 sites. This presentation offers a synopsis on the “background state” of the coastal seas in the surveyed area while focusing on the lateral distribution as well as the vertical variation of water turbidity. Water turbidity, especially that in the near-bottom layer, is deemed a good indicator of localized sediment dynamic conditions, therefore expected to provide guidance to the placement of our multi-location, in-situ observing platforms that are to be deployed in the second phase of the field campaign in 2016.