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Malaysia Water Research Journal
Figure 1. The map of Sungai Pahang and Kuala Pahang estuary.
2 STUDY AREA
Sungai Pahang is the longest river in Peninsular Malaysia with 459 km length
and flows into the South China Sea, as shown in Figure 1. This meandering river
carrying the water through the various cities like Jerantut, Temerloh, Maran, Bera
and Pekan before flowing into the sea through the estuary, Kuala Pahang. Tasik
Chini, the second largest natural lake in Malaysia has an area of 202 ha water
bodies and 700 ha fresh water swamps with an averaged concentration of
total suspended sediments (TSS) at 1755,242 tons/km2/year (Toriman et al. 2012).
Deposition of sediments can be seen in the downstream part of the river with the
formation of sand bars and small islands or delta. The presence of small islands
is also feared to serve as a barrier to the flow of the river and in turn might trap
more sediment.
River mouth or estuary is an area where freshwater meets saltwater
and influenced by tides and wave action. Ishak et.al., (2001) stated that the
formation of the mouth is affected by sediment transport process and this
process is influenced by tides. According to Abd. Rahman et. al. (2005), the
geomorphology at the Pahang coastal area can be divided into three parts,
namely sandy beach (at the northern part), asymmetrical cone shape of Kuala
Pahang estuary delta and the third part is dominated by mangrove plants and
lagoon (at the south coast).
Institut Penyelidikan Hidraulik Kebangsaan Malaysia (NAHRIM)
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National Hydraulic Institute of Malaysia (NAHRIM)