Summary on the Problems and Studies of Sediment in the Yellow River

摘要

The Yellow River (refers as YR hereafter) is the second largest river in China. However, its annual average sediment load is as high as 1.6 billion tons, which makes it the first place among all the rivers in the world. Massive sediment load has created the vast Huang - huai - hai plain and the estuary. On the other hand, the Lower Yellow River (refers as LYR hereafter) itself has become a suspended river due to endless sediment deposition. This has brought in extremely serious disaster to peoples living on both sides of the river. Sedimentation problems of the YR are very complicated that in fact are the fatal difficulties in harnessing such a river. Success or failure of measures taken in taming this river is often depended on the ways to handle the sediment.