A sand ridge field of 22 470 km2 consists of fine sands and silts originally from the old Changjiang River sediment during the late Pleistocene period. Late Holocene sand stratum with its well-preserved larmnary bedding of more clay particles reflects the influence from the Yellow River. There are three genetic types of morphology of sand ridge field as follows: (i) reformed alluvial sandy bodies and old river valleys, located in the central and southern parts, formed from the end of Pleistocene to the present. (ii) Radiative current ridges and patrimonal valley type, located in the northeastern part, formed during the early or middle Holocene time. (iii) Eroded-depositional sandy bodies in the north and outer parts, and erosional trough in the north formed since the middle Holocene transgression.The sand ridge field has a periodic nature of developing processes: the period of sediment accumulation by rivers during cold epoch with low sea level and the period of erosional formation by tidal currents during warm epoch of transgression. The river-sea interactive process in the area is closely related to the climate change; the rising and falling of the sea level is the detonating agent of the coast zone land-sea dynamic interactive processes. They can be summarized as “transgression-dynamic-sedimentation” processes.
Based on the 2D horizontal plane numerical model, a quasi-3D numerical model is established for coastal regions of shallow water. The characteristics of this model are that the velocity profiles;can be obtained at the same time when the equations of the value of difference between the horizontal current velocity and its depth-averaged velocity in the vertical direction are solved and the results obtained are consistent with the results of the 2D, model. The circulating flow in the rectangular area induced by wind is simulated and applied to the tidal flow field of the radial sandbanks in the South Yellow Sea. The computational results from this quasi-3D model are in good agreement with analytical results and observed data. The solution of the finite difference equations has been found to be stable, and the model is simple, effective and practical.
