As a very important component of a coastal system, tidal flats come to be a focus of the studies on land-ocean interaction in the coastal zone because those areas are subjected to intense human activities and are highly sensitive to the global change. The Quanzhou Bay, located along the middle part of Fujian coast of China, covers about 136.4km^2, and the area of coastal wetland in the entire bay from intertidal to subtidal with 6m of water depth accounts for 96% of the total area. Seven short cores were collected and divided in situ with the interval of 5cm on the coastal wetlands of Quanzhou Bay on April 19, 2006. The sediment samples were scattered and the grain sizes were measured by using Mastersizer 2000. Human beings＇ activities on tidal fiat have disturbed the vertical distribution of sediments in stratigraphic sequence and accelerated the sedimentation rates. Grain size analysis results show that the grain size diameters increase and sediment becomes worse sorted towards the sea under the strong human disturbance; Spartina alterniflora can play a role of trapping the fine sediment; but near the bank, the sediment becomes coarse and there are two peak values on frequency curve influenced by the sandpile. The trough formed by human activities along the coastline changes the transport path of water and suspended sediment. The sediments are transported through the trough and deposit in it during the flood; the ebb flow is retarded by the flow output through the adjacent trough, and the deposited sediment can not be re-suspended; then, the sedimentation rate increases. In situ observation show that the sedimentation rate is about 8-10cm/yr.
Four short cores were obtained from the coastal wetland of the Quanzhou Bay,Fujian Province,China,and sediment samples were analyzed with a Mastersizer 2000 for grain size analysis and an Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometer(ICP-AES) for trace metal analysis. The results of grain size analysis show that the wetland sediments are mainly composed of silt and clay,and the distribution of median grain size is affected by human activities obviously. The results of trace metal analysis show that the wetland sediments mainly originate from terrestrial materials in the Luoyangjiang River estuary and from contaminants discharged from adjacent rivers in Shuitou area. The heavy metal contamination in Luoyangjiang estuary decreased from 1984 to 2004 due to industry transformation,but has increased since 2004 because of the discharge of contaminants to the Jinjiang River and much living sewerage to the bay,and a large number of trace metals are trapped within Spartina alterniflora marsh.
Coastal salt marshes represent an important coastal wetland system. In order to tmderstand the differences between boundary layer parameters of vegetated and unvegetated areas, as well as the mechanisms of sediment transport, several electromagnetic current meters （AEM HR, products of Alec Electronics Co. Ltd.） were deployed in coastal wetlands in Quanzhou Bay, China, to measure current velocity. During the low tide phase, the surficial sediment was collected at 10 m intervals. In situ measurements show that the current velocities on the bare flat were much higher than those in the Spartina alterniflora marsh. Current velocity also varied with distance from marsh edge and plant canopy height and diameter. Around 63% of the velocity profiles in the tidal creek can be described by a logarithmic equation. Over the bare flat and Spartina alterniflora marsh, a logarithmic profile almost occurs during the flood tide phase. Sediment analysis shows that mean grain size was 6.7 Ф along the marsh edge, and surface sediments were transported from bare fiat to marsh; the tidal creeks may change this sediment transport pattern. The hydrodynamics at early flood tide and late ebb tide phases determined the net transport direction within the study area.
