Vulnerability of Eco-Hydrological Environment in the Yellow River Delta Wetland

ABSTRACT Gao, M.; Liu, S.; Zhao, G.; Yuan, H.; Wei, C.; Wu, Y., and Tang, J., 2014. Vulnerability of eco-hydrological environment in the Yellow River delta wetland. We investigated the relationship between groundwater head and oceanic tidal fluctuations in the Yellow River Delta wetland through on-site hydrological monitoring. Shallow groundwater heads were obviously affected by oceanic tide along the coastal zone. The ranges of the wetland zone can be readily assessed by measuring fluctuation amplitudes or lags. The results show that the influence radius is approximately 12 km to 18 km (when the correlation coefficient is 0.7 to 0.8) under the joint actions of oceanic tide and shallow groundwater seepage flow in clayey silt coastal wetland. A cross-sectional sketch of the coastal wetland model is developed based on monitoring data of groundwater and oceanic tidal fluctuations to study the vulnerability of the eco-hydrological environment in the Yellow River Delta wetland. The coastal wetland consists of ...