Abstract
On May 12, 2008, an earthquake of 8.0 magnitude on the Richter scale and its numerous aftershocks devastatingly hit Wenchuan County and its nearby region along the Longman Mountains in Sichuan Province, China. The heavy ruined area was up to 30,000 km2 and 13% of its land surface was denuded by the extremely terrible quakes. The mountain collapses, landslides and debris flows induced by the earthquake not only scared the landscape at the immense scale, but also poured 1.66-billion-m3 sediment combined with offscourings and rubble into the Yangtze River and its breaches. This amount of sediments is 3 times more than the normal amount discharged into the Yangtze River, and will significantly increase sediment transportation of rivers and decrease storage capacities of reservoirs downstream. The dramatic increase in sediment load will imperil the engineering safety and impact the operation of the giant Three-Gorge Hydro-power Station if no proper prevention measures are taken.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Xinhuan. 2008. Facts and figures about China quake and relief. <http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/28/content_8265715.htm>
Richard, S. 2008. Landslides, Flooding Pose Threats as Experts Survey Quake’s Impact. Science 320:996–997.
Higgitt, D. L. and Lu, X. X. 2001. Sediment delivery to the three gorges: 1. Catchment controls. Geomorphology 41:143–156.
Chen Zhongyuan, Li Jiufa, Shen Huanting, Wang Zhanghua, 2001. Yangtze River of China: historical analysis of discharge variability and sediment flux. Geomorphology 41: 77–91.
Cheng, G.W. 1998. Forest change: the hydrological effects of the upper Yangtze River valley. Ambio 25(4):125–132.
Lu X.X., P. Ashmore, J. Wang. 2003. Sediment yield mapping in a large river basin: the Upper Yangtze, China. Environmental Modeling & Software 18:339–353.
Ministry of Water Resources of China. 2004. National soil loss report in 2003. Beijing.
National Forest Bureau of China. 2005. China forest report in the year of 2004.Beijing.
Yang Shi-lun, Zhao Qing-ying, Igor M. Belkin. 2002. Temporal variation in the sediment load of the Yangtze river and the influences of the human activities. J. of Hydrology 263: 56–71.
Zhang Xinbao, Anban Wen. 2004. Current changes of sediment yields in the upper Yangtze River and its two biggest tributaries, China. Global and Planetary Change 41: 221–227.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cheng, G., He, X., Chen, G. et al. Change in sediment load of the Yangtze River after Wenchuan earthquake. J. Mt. Sci. 7, 100–104 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-010-1102-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-010-1102-7