Research on Hydrodynamics with Water Temperature Characteristics and Spring Algal Blooms in a Typical Tributary Bay of Three Gorges Reservoir

Abstract

After the impoundment of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) in China, water environment problems induced by water temperature stratification in the Xiangxi Bay (XXB, a typical tributary bay of TGR) received wide attention. In this study, a 3-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamic and water temperature coupled model with the z-coordinate in the vertical direction was established with Delft3D software to simulate the continuous hydrodynamic and water temperature process of XXB in 2009, and the static stability and mixing depth were also analyzed. The results show that the upstream inflow is prevented from entering TGR with nutrients enriching and mixing in the upper and middle reach of XXB from winter to early spring, which is the primary cause of spring algal blooms in XXB. Therefore, measures such as improving the upstream hydrodynamic conditions and forcing the nutrients to flow into TGR in winter should be more effective in alleviating spring algal blooms than the artificial tide operation of TGR proposed by previous studies.