Sedimentary response of the modern Huanghe (Yellow River) delta front to water-sediment regulation schemes: Insights into hyperpycnal flow dynamics and delta stability

作者：Yupeng Pan, Ya Ping Wang, Wenyu Cai, Shihao Liu, Fei Xing, Jianhua Gao, Yonggui Yu, Chao Gao, Zuosheng Yang · 发表于：Journal of Hydrology Regional Studies · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.ejrh.2025.102909 · 研究领域：Geological formations and processes、Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics、Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes

Study region The modern Huanghe (Yellow River) delta front, China Study focus This study employs the forward stratigraphic model Sedflux-2D to investigate morphodynamic responses at the modern Huanghe delta front under two operating modes of the Water-Sediment Regulation Scheme (WSRS): (i) synchronous regulation (coupled peak water and sediment discharge) and (ii) asynchronous regulation (staggered flow and sediment release). Although previous studies have recognized event-scale variations in sediment transport, morphodynamic responses to different WSRS modes remain underexplored. To address this gap, water discharge and sediment supply are prescribed as independent boundary conditions to isolate the effects of regulation strategy and sediment availability. The model explicitly incorporates event-scale suspended-sediment concentration pulses capable of generating hyperpycnal flows and WSRS-induced sediment coarsening to reproduce realistic sediment-transport dynamics across event to interannual timescales. New hydrological insights for the region Sedflux-2D simulations show that WSRS-induced sediment coarsening enhances delta-front stability on interannual timescales. At event scales, both regulation mode and sediment supply control depositional patterns and stratigraphic partitioning. Elevated sediment concentrations trigger hyperpycnal flows that increase trapping efficiency, contributing ∼27 % of total event-scale accumulation. Synchronous regulation promotes distal transp...