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Technology and Engineering
- ISSN: 2333-2581
- Modern Environmental Science and Engineering
Recent Changes of Suspended Sediment Yields in the Upper Yangtze River and Its Headwater Tributaries
Xinbao Zhang1, Qiang Tang1,2, Yi Long1, Xiubin He1 and Anbang Wen1
1. Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institution of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Abstract: Suspended sediment yields in the Upper Yangtze River and its four headwater tributaries (i.e., Jinsha, Min, Jialing and Wu) have declined significantly during the recent decades. Compared with 1956-1970, mean annual suspended sediment yield during 2001-2011wasreduced by 84% in the Upper Yangtze River at Yichang, by 34% in the Jinsha at Pingshan, by 84% in the Jialing at Beibei, by 75% in the Wu at Wulong, and by 48% in the Min at Gaochang. Linking the observed decadal changes of runoff discharge and suspended sediment load to dam construction and multiple environmental rehabilitation projects (e.g., soil-water conservation, reforestation) during the past decades, it can be concluded that the construction of large dams on the main stem and major tributaries of the Upper Yangtze River has played a principal role in the reduction of fluvial suspended sediment yields, while the environment rehabilitation projects may make limited contributions to the changes in suspended sediment yields except for the Jialing River.
Key words: unoff discharge, suspended sediment yield, dam construction, environmental rehabilitation, Upper Yangtze River, Three Gorges Reservoir
