Objective
The CUU-LONG Project will address the three following questions:
1. What is the fate of c/n/p in the Mekong river and its delta and their impact upon primary production and eutrophication ?
2. Which are the sources, levels and fate of key organic/inorganic contaminants in the Mekong delta ?
3. What are the main processes affecting erosion, sediment transport and sedimentation in the Mekong delta and its adjacent zone ?
Expected Outcome
The Cuu-Long project will provide a scientific basis for the sustainable development of the Mekong delta and its adjacent Coastal Zone. It will help in conserving deltaic and marine ecosystems, in predicting and preventing the effects of contamination, and in protecting the delta against sea level rise. Moreover, the Cuu-Long project will contribute to an assessment of the sea-land interactions in the coastal zones of the Mekong delta. In addition, the Cuu-Long project will contribute to improving the capability of the Vietnamese and Thai institutions in the oceanographic research.
The project includes 3 sub-projects addressing the questions identified above. The key activities in each sub-project envisaged are:
* Sub-project I:
* to quantify the influence of the river discharge of nutrient on the productivity of the adjacent sea and on the occurrence of eutrophication crisis;
* to understand the "dual effect" of increase of nutrient and decrease of light, caused by turbidity in the water column, on primary production processes;
* to understand the role of the sediment as a sink of organic materials and as a source of dissolved nutrients enhancing the primary production.
* Sub-project II:
* the evaluation of levels of key organic / inorganic contaminants in sediments and of their possible sources;
* the understanding of the role of sediments as a sink of contaminants as well as a secondary source of contaminants and of dissolved nutrients (in relation to the sub-project I);
* the study of contaminant migration related to sediment transport (evaluation based on the model for cohesive-sediment transport in the MDCZ to be developed in the sub-project III).
* Sub-project III:
* to analyse and synthesise the existing and new field data so as to provide a quantitative assessment on the actual state and the mechanisms of erosion and accumulation in the MDCZ;
* to develop the robust predictive numerical models that will provide basic scientific knowledge to understand the main hydrodynamical and sediment-transfer processes occurring in the lower Mekong delta and the adjacent coastal seas;
* to assess the response of material transport and cycling in deltaic environments to human activities on land;
* to elaborate a map of the erosion and accumulation state in the MDCZ.
Fields of science
Not validated
Not validated
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
14032 CAEN
France