Transformation of the Three Largest Chinese River Deltas in Response to the Reduction of Sediment Discharges

ABSTRACT Tan, C.; Huang, B.; Liu, F.; Yang, Q.; Jiang, C., and Zhang, S., 2016. Transformation of the three largest Chinese river deltas in response to the reduction of sediment discharges. The Yellow, Yangtze, and Pearl rivers deliver more than 1.2 × 1012 m3/a of freshwater and 13.6 × 108 t/a of sediment into the western Pacific Ocean, playing important roles in the morphological evolution of the ocean in this region. From the 1950s to the 2000s, the total sediment loads of the three rivers decreased by 81.2%; this change has been primarily caused by human activities, such as dam construction and water–soil conservation projects. The sediment loads in the Yellow, Yangtze, and Pearl rivers decreased by 89.9%, 62.1% and 57.1%, respectively, from the 1950s to the 2000s. In response to the sediment supply decrease, the sediment regimes of the river channels in the lower reaches of the three rivers generally transitioned from deposition to erosion since the 1990s. The erosion of the channel has modulated the ...