Many large rivers in the world delivers decreasing sediment loads to coastal oceans owing to reductions in sediment yield and disrupted sediment deliver. Understanding the sediment load regime is a prerequisite of sediment management and fluvial and deltaic ecosystem restoration. This work examines sediment load changes across the Changjiang River basin based on a long time series (1950–2017) of sediment load data stretching from the headwater to the delta. We find that the sediment loads have decreased progressively throughout the basin at multiple time scales. The sediment loads have decreased by ~96% and ~74% at the outlets of the upper basin and entire basin, respectively, in 2006–2017 compared to 1950–1985. The hydropower dams in the mainstem have become a dominant cause of the reduction, although downstream channel erosion causes moderate sediment load recovery. The basin-scale sediment connectivity has declined as the upper river is progressively dammed, the middle-lower river is leveed and river-lake interplay weakens. The middle-lower river has changed from a slight depositional to a severe erosional environment, from a sediment transport conduit to a new sediment source zone, and from a transport-limited to a supply-limited condition. These low-level sediment loads will likely persist in the future considering the cumulative dam trapping and depleted channel erosion. As a result, substantial hydro-morphological changes have occurred that affect the water supply, flood mitigation, and the aquatic ecosystem. The findings and lessons in this work can shed light on other large river systems subject to intensified human interference.@en

Creeks are essential for salt marshes by conveying water and sediment through this geomorphic system. In this paper, we investigate the mechanisms that determine the residual sediment flux using measurements conducted in tidal creeks in salt marshes of the Yangtze Estuary. A main creek and a secondary creek were studied to explore whether the mechanisms determining residual sediment fluxes through the main creek differ from those in the secondary creek. Measurements in creeks were carried out over 5 years, spanning different months. Sediment import was found during most tides, both in the main creek and the secondary creek, implying that creeks in Chongming generally function as a conveyor belt of sediment into the marsh. However, sediment export can occur during certain overbank tides. When comparing the role of creeks in drainage and sediment delivery, the main creek functions more in delivering sediment while the secondary creek primarily serves as a drainage conduit. To better understand the mechanisms behind sediment fluxes, the residual sediment flux was compared with the residual discharge and the sediment differential (differences in sediment concentration between flood and ebb). Overbank tides generally lead to a net outward discharge as more water from saltmarshes can be concentrated into the marsh creek during ebb tides. This net outward discharge tends to export more sediment during ebb tides. However, due to the sediment abundance during the flood phase in the turbid environment, sediment import can be expected even with the residual export of water. Export of sediment was only found for the few tides with a net outward discharge and a small positive sediment concentration differential. Large negative sediment differentials (larger averaged suspended sediment concentration during ebb tides) have not been observed because the sediment supply during ebb is limited. This paper unravels how the sediment differential and residual discharge contribute to the residual sediment flux, providing a better understanding of sediment dynamics in marsh creek systems.@en

Net sediment transport is predominantly seaward in fluvial-dominated estuaries worldwide. However, a distributary branch in the Changjiang Estuary, the North Branch, undergoes net landward sediment transport, which leads to severe channel aggradation. Its controlling mechanism and the role of human activities remain insufficiently understood, although such knowledge is necessary for better management and restoration opportunities. In this study we revisit the centennial hydro-morphodynamic evolution of the North Branch based on historical maps, field data, and satellite images and provide a synthesis of the regime change from ebb to flood dominance. The North Branch was once a major river and ebb-dominant distributary channel. Within which alternative meandering channels and sand bars developed. Deposition of river-borne sediment leads to infilling of the branch, while tidal flat embankment reduces the bankfull width and modifies the channel configuration, resulting in a profound decline in the sub-tidal flow partition rate. The North Branch then becomes tide-dominant with an occurrence of tidal bores and elongated sand ridges. Once tidal dominance is established, extensive tidal flat reclamation enhances the funnel-shaped planform, amplifying the incoming tides and initiating a positive feedback process that links tidal flat loss, sediment import, and channel aggradation. Overall, the shift in branch dominance is a combined result of a natural southeastward realignment of the deltaic distributary channels and extensive reclamation. One management option to mitigate channel aggradation is to stop the aggressive reclamation and allow tidal flats to build up, which might reduce the sediment import and eventually lead to a morphodynamic equilibrium in the longer term. Understanding the impact of tidal flat reclamation is informative for the management of similar tidal systems under strong human interference.@en

The sediment load in the Yangtze River downstream of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) has substantially declined in recent decades. The decrease is more profound below the TGD, e.g., a 97% decrease at Yichang, compared with that at the delta apex, 1200 km downstream, e.g., a 75% decrease, implying along-river sediment recovery. Two large river-connected lakes, i.e., Dongting and Poyang Lakes, may play a role in the re-establishment of the river’s morphodynamic equilibrium, but a quantitative data-based understanding of this interaction is not yet available. In this work, we collected a series of field data to quantify the sediment gain and loss in the river-lake system in the middle-lower Yangtze River, and evaluate the lake’s response to the reduction in riverine sediment supply. We find that Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake shifted from net sedimentation to erosion in 2006 and 2000, and back to a sedimentation regime again after 2017 and 2018, respectively. Natural morphodynamic adaptation and sand mining play an important role in the regime changes in the Dongting Lake whereas sand mining dominates the abrupt changes in the Poyang Lake. The Dongting and Poyang Lake contributed maximum by 38% (2015) and 17% (2006) (respectively) to the sediment recovery in the erosion regime, whereas the riverbed erosion dominates the main sediment source. These changes in the relative contribution of sediment sources also indicates a response time of ~ 20 years in the lakes towards a new equilibrium state. It is noteworthy that the lakes’ buffer effects may be overestimated as the supplied sediment from the lakes is rather small compared to the significant dam trapping in the upstream basin and sediment source from downstream degradation. The results imply that river management and restoration should take into account of the river-lake interactions and feedback impact at decadal time scales.@en

The morphology of the Yangtze Estuary has changed substantially at decadal time scales in response to natural processes, local human interference and reduced sediment supply. Due to its high sediment load, the morphodynamic response time of the estuary is short, providing a valuable semi-natural system to evaluate large-scale estuarine morphodynamic responses to interference. Previous studies primarily addressed local morphologic changes within the estuary, but since an overall sediment balance is missing, it remains unclear whether the estuary as a whole has shifted from sedimentation to erosion in response to reduced riverine sediment supply (e.g. resulting from construction of the Three Gorges Dam). In this paper we examine the morphological changes of two large shoals in the mouth zone (i.e. the Hengsha flat and the Jiuduan shoal) using bathymetric data collected between 1953 and 2016 and a series of satellite images. We observe that the two shoals accreted at different rates before 2010 but reverted to erosion thereafter. Human activities such as dredging and dumping contribute to erosion, masking the impacts of sediment source reduction. The effects of local human intervention (such as the construction of a navigation channel) are instantaneous and are likely to have already resulted in new dynamic equilibrium conditions. The morphodynamic response time of the mouth zone to riverine sediment decrease is further suggested to be >30 years (starting from the mid-1980s). Accounting for the different adaptation time scales of various human activities is essential when interpreting morphodynamic changes in large-scale estuaries and deltas.@en

Coastal tidal flats provide valuable ecosystems, but are highly sensitive to tidal dynamics, sea-level rise, and human activities. Tidal inundation depth and frequency are known to affect tidal flat morphodynamics. However, the causes, processes and extent remain uncertain, particularly given the associated changes in sediment availability. In this study, we monitored the hydrodynamics, sediment transport, and morphological changes on two tidal flats in the northern and southern parts of the Yellow River Delta, with contrasting tidal regimes. The data showed that longer inundation periods under diurnal tides gained additional sediment and deposition than under semi-diurnal tides, because of the associated increase in water depth and sediment availability. The wave impact increased at the site with a semi-diurnal tidal regime owing to the lower water depth, where a larger bed shear stress led to tidal flat erosion. These results indicated that the combination of tidal regime and the occurrence of powerful waves played a joint role in controlling bed erosion, sediment availability, and short-term tidal flat evolution. This has implications for coping with delta erosion by enhancing local sediment availability in diurnal tidal regions and restoring vegetation to attenuate waves in semi-diurnal regions of the Yellow River Delta.@en