Regeneration and anti-migration of sand waves associated with sand mining in the Taiwan Shoal

Sand waves in the Taiwan Shoal are characterized by two distinct spatial scales. Giant sand waves have a length of2 kilometers with height between 5 m and 25 m, whilst small sand waves is less than 100-m long with height less than 5 m between giant sand wave peaks(crests). A series of five high-resolution multi-beam echo-sounding surveys between 2012 and 2020 in the middle of Taiwan Shoal indicated that artificial dredging on the giant sand waves had caused sand wave reform and evolution. Overall, the removal of giant sand waves significantly affected the migration of small sand waves adjacent to the dredging site, with the latter on both sides of the former appear to migrate towards the dredging pit. Moreover, in the dredging area, new sand waves emerged with wavelength much smaller than the original giant sand waves, while the convergent pattern of the small sand waves tends to store and form the giant sand waves, which might spread far beyond the survey period.