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Qiantang River

27th December, 2023

Qiantang River

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Context

  • Breath-taking patterns of giant trees appeared on the frozen Qiantang River in east China's Zhejiang Province amid a continuing cold wave.
  • The rise and fall of tides result in the natural formation of forest patterns on the mud flats, also known as "tidal trees."

About Qiantang River

  • This river originates on the borders of the provinces of Jiangxi and Anhui in southeast China.
  • It travels 459 kilometres through Zhejiang, passing through Yanguan Town, Haining, Jiaxing City, and the capital city of Hangzhou before emptying into Hangzhou Bay and the East China Sea.
  • Additionally, the river serves as the southern end of the historic Grand Canal, which connects China's five principal rivers north to south.
  • This allows transportation from Hangzhou to travel north to Beijing via the Canal.
  • It is surrounded by a collection of rapidly developing cities, such as Ningbo, one of China's top port cities, and Shanghai, the nation's preeminent industrial and commercial centre.
  • One of the biggest tidal bores in the world is the breath-taking Qiantang River Tidal Bore.
  • The highest tidal bore can reach up to 9 metres (30 feet) high.

What is Tidal Bore?

  • Where a river pours into the ocean or sea along the shore is known as a tidal bore.
  • A powerful tide that pushes up the river against the current is called a tidal bore.
  • A surge is a tidal bore.
  • A abrupt shift in depth is called a surge.
  • A channel feels a pleasant surge when it abruptly descends further.
  • A channel experiences a negative surge when it suddenly becomes shallower.
  • Positive surges are tidal bores.
  • The bore height is higher close to a river's banks than it is in the middle of the stream.
  • After high water, some bores continue to flow upstream for around 30 minutes due to momentum.
  • Bores happen during spring tides and on a few tides before and after spring tides, but they never happen during neap tides.

PRACTICE QUESTION

When a tide enters the narrow and shallow estuary of river, the front of the tidal wave appears to be vertical owing to the piling up of water of the river against the tidal wave and the friction of the river bed. The appropriate name of this vertical wall of water is

A) Tidal Current

B) Tidal Bore

C) Tidal Bulge

D) Tidal Loop

Answer: B