The Shengli I Point Bar on the Yellow River Delta: Three-Dimensional Structures and Their Evolution

Point bars are well developed on the Yellow River delta, among which the Shengli I point bar is the most typical. The point bar, being about 4 km in length and several tens to more than 100 meters in width, is located on the south side of the Shengli Bridge in Kenli County, Dongying, Shandong. It is a typical fine-grained point bar with silt, which is predominant, some clay and minor plant debris and clay boulders. The Shengli I point bar has complicated 3-D structures. Firstly, in a plane view, it comprises mainly eight sedimentary units, bar edge, bar ridge, bar platform, bar plain, bar channel, bar gully, bar pond and bar bay, developing side by side and superimposed one by one in a complex way. Secondly, its vertical structures are very complex due to the partial superimposition of the 8 sedimentary units. Besides hydatogenesis, very intensive wind erosion, eolian, ice and meltwater actions are also visible on the Shengli I point bar. The complex form is made even more complicated because of the abo