Coastal erosion in go Cong Dong, Tien Giang

Abstract

Mangrove forest and dike system play an important role on protecting people who live in the lowland coastal areas. Go Cong Dong coastal zone is located in the eastern most of Tien Giang province, which surfered severe coastal erosion and storm surges in the northeast monsoon season. In order to investigte coastal erosion in this area, satellite images were analyzed from 1991 to 2014. Sediment samples, water samples were collected and tested to seek the reasons of eroded areas. The analysis results of satellite images showed that Go Cong Dong coastline (Vam Lang to Tan Thanh ward) has been eroded seriously with erosion rate from 10-15m/year. The results of numerical modeling illustrated that the main reasons for this hazardous phenomenon are based on natural conditions such as wind waves andtidal currents in the northwest monsoon season. In the northeast monsoon season, wave height is relatively high fluctuating around 0.7m to 0.8m; in contrast, in the southwest monsoon season the wave height has been only seen 0.2- 0.3m. The predicted rate of changes was also conducted, whereas Vam Lang-Kieng Phuoc is soon coming to be eroded. Otherwise, degradation of mangrove forest should be concerned by high concentration of arsenic in sediment alongshore and shrimp pond.