The Gaoping (GP) river which has the largest drainage basin and is the second longest river in Taiwan. Highly erodible sedimentary and metamorphic rocks in the drainage basin, coupled with a steep landscape, humid climate, frequent typhoons and earthquakes, provide favorable conditions for bedrock weathering and soil erosion in the GP drainage basin. Its exceptionally high sediment yield and tidal-dominated dispersal system presents a unique case for comparative study. In this study, we collected sediment and soil samples not only from estuary region but also traced up to upper stream areas of the GP drainage. We analyze the content of n-alkanes in the sediments and soils of GP river-sea system, and utilize compositional patterns to discuss the sources and process of transmission of terrigenous organic matter of GP river-sea system. Analyzed results show that the average carbon chain distribution shows same pattern for rocks, riverine and seafloor sediments but is different with soil samples. Hierarchical cluster analysis helps us to distinguish differently compositional patterns of n-alkanes. And the riverine, seafloor and rock samples have high similarity, except for soils. The spatial distribution of the carbon preference index (CPI) and temporal distribution of CPI in cores, show that values are all close to ~1, but not for soils (>2). This result indicates that for the past 150 years, lower CPI values not merely from petroleum pollutions, but also due to thermal mature terrestrial organic matter eroded from bedrock caused by tectonic and climatic events, such as typhoons and earthquakes.

A major part of the terrestrial sediment in the ocean comes from the land via river plume. There are four stages in sediment dispersal from rivers into the sea: supply via plume, initial deposition, resuspension and transport by waves and currents or by the slope failure, and long-term net accumulation. We can understand the dispersion and transport of the river plume by in situ observations of hydrodynamic of the plume field. Therefore, it is helpful to study river plume hydrodynamics, such as winds, tides, waves, and currents. The purpose of this study is to identify the type of plume dynamics by analyzing the temporal and spatial variability of hydrological structures observed around the Gaoping River mouth. We observed the bottom and surface time series of temperature, salinity, turbidity, suspended sediment concentration, and velocity profile by instrument mounted at the tetrapods and a moored buoy during July 28 to 30 in 2009 and July 30 to August 2 in 2011. Besides, we investigated the spatial structures of the river plume in Gaoping River mouth by using a fishing boat in 2009. We also acquired satellite images to assist our study. The results showed that the river discharges during 2009 was lower than daily average discharge. Combined the temporal and spatial observations and satellite images, we determined that the river plume turned west during the ebb tide was influenced by Coriolis force and winds. The buoyancy-driven current velocity was 0.15 m/s and the maximum of wind-driven current velocity was 0.30 m/s. The wind strength index (Ws) determines whether a plume¡¦s along-shelf flow is in a wind-driven or buoyancy-driven state. Ws is the ratio of the wind-driven and buoyancy-driven along-shelf velocities. If |W_s | > 1 on average the wind velocity more than 5.9 m/s. The wind velocity reached this threshold during most of the ebb periods, and around that value in the flood time. Flood currents combined with cross-shore wind pushed the river plume to swing to the east. The data were analyzed by empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. The results indicated that winds and waves were the main factors influencing plume dynamics during low-discharge period. During the field experiment in 2011, the river discharge was greater than daily average discharge. The buoyancy-driven and the maximum of wind-driven current velocities were 0.30 and 0.12 m/s, respectively. The wind velocity did not reach the threshold that was 11.67 m/s. The buoyancy-driven current was more significant than wind-driven current. By analyzing the ocean color of satellite images, the river plume was spreading from the river mouth and toward west during ebb. The time series data also showed that there was plume signal at the same time. The average cross-shore current velocity was 0.52 m/s, being larger than the buoyancy-driven current. Therefore, the tide was the main factor deciding where the plume discharged. The first eigemode of EOF suggested that current was the most important factor influencing plume dynamics during high-discharge period. The second eignmode described the dominant influence of wind.