Effects of water level fluctuation on thermal stratification in a typical tributary bay of Three Gorges Reservoir, China

PeerJ

article

Juxiang Jin¹  Scott A. Wells²  Defu Liu³  Guolu Yang¹  Senlin Zhu⁴  Jun Ma³  Zhengjian Yang³ 

[1] School of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering, Wuhan University;Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Portland State University;Hubei Key Laboratory of Ecological Restoration of River-Lakes and Algal Utilization, Hubei University of Technology;State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute

关键词: Thermal stratification;    CE-QUAL-W2;    Three Gorges Reservoir;    Xiangxi River;    Water level fluctuation;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.6925

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Xiangxi River is a typical tributary of Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) in China. Based on field observations in 2010, thermal stratification was significant in most months of the year. Through field data analysis and numerical simulations, the seasonal and spatial variation of thermal stratification as related to the impact of the operation of TGR were investigated. Thermal stratification was most pronounced from April to September in the Xiangxi River tributary. Air temperature (AT) and water level (WL) were the two dominant variables impacting thermal stratification. AT affected the surface water temperature promoting the formation of thermal stratification, and high WLs in TGR deepened the thermocline depth and thermocline bottom depth. These results provide a preliminary description of the seasonal variation and spatial distribution of thermal stratification, which is important for better understanding how thermal stratification affects algae blooms in Xiangxi River.

【 授权许可】

CC BY