Effects of Different Layout Schemes on the Marine Environment of the Dalian Offshore Reclaimed Airport Island

Abstract

Large-scale marine reclamation is expected to have some effects on the marine environment, but these effects vary depending on the reclamation layout schemes. For the offshore airport programming of Dalian, China, an insular artificial island scheme and a peninsula artificial island scheme are considered. To contrast the effects of these two schemes on the marine environment, a two-dimensional (2D) hydrodynamic model was applied on the basis of the characteristics of the tides, currents, waves, and sediments in the Jinzhou Bay. Furthermore, a water quality model of suspended sediment convection-diffusion was developed on the basis of the hydrodynamic model, and suspended sediments were the source for identifying the intensity of sewage outfalls during the sea-filling process. Data for tides, currents, waves, and sediments from field observations carried out in 2009 at six stations were used for calibration and validation of the models, which showed a positive agreement with the simulated results. Moreover, on the basis of the verified models, the comparative analysis of the effects of the two schemes on hydrodynamics, morphology evolution, water pollution, and biological resource loss was comprehensively carried out in the paper. The results indicate that the effects on the marine environment of the insular artificial island scheme are less than that of the peninsula scheme. The conclusions provide an important foundation for the programming of the Dalian offshore airport and can be used as a reference for similar coastal engineering and marine environment protection.