Is the South China Sea has undergone a sea level rise? A preliminary study in Terengganu, Malaysia

• Main Authors: Muhammad Barzani, Gasim, Mohd Khairul Amri, Kamarudin, Hafizah, Juahir, Azman, Azid, Azizah, Endut
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Q Science (General); TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/779/1/FH03-ESERI-17-09075.pdf; http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/779/

The effect of the sea level rise has been detected globally, this study taken more seriously due to the existence of phenomenon such as sea water intrusion, increase of sea waves and coastal erosion. The objective of this study is to determine fluctuation of high and low tides of the South China Sea based on change on water quality trend of Marang and Paka Rivers and from a well monitoring in Terengganu. Sampling was done twice, first in November 2012 and was repeated in November 2015. Selected water quality parameters such as salinity, EC, TDS, DO, pH and turbidity were measured using standard instruments, nine parameters from monitoring well such as Ca, Na, Mg, Fe, Cl, TDS, TSS, EC and pH were carried out from 2006 to 2012. Two-way t-test was used for statistical analysis in this study. There is significant temporal variation in DO and turbidity meanwhile for pH, significant variation is only present during low tide in Marang River. These parameters show an increasing trend from downstream to upstream between 2012 and 2015 due to the increase of land use activities, while other parameters such as EC, salinity, TDS as well as pH were decreased during high tide in Marang River and high and low tides in Paka River. These results were concluded that global change coupled with the enactment of heavy storm and flood phenomenon during 2014 and other external causes was lead to the rising of sea level and salinity dilution of the South China Sea.