Spatial and temporal variations of water and sediment discharges of the Yangtze River (Changjiang) from 1950 to 2018: Erosion of Lake, Channel, and Delta

Temporal variations in water and sediment discharges in the Yangtze basin have been controlled by various forcings, both climatic (precipitation and evapotranspiration) and anthropogenic (water diversions, dam construction, and lake reclamation). Superimposed on the spatial variations, various temporal changes of both water and sediment discharge have occurred in the Yangtze drainage basin since 1950. As a result of the severe decline in sediment flux relative to water discharge, suspended sediment concentrations (SSCs) in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have decreased dramatically. While low-runoff rivers seem more vulnerable to climatic and anthropogenic change, high-runoff rivers also can be affected, as shown by the Yangtze in this chapter. The collective erosion of Dongting Lake, the mainstem channel and the Yangtze subaqueous delta have changed the Yangtze sediment dispersal system dramatically.