RANGE SURVEY OF DEPOSITION IN THE LOWER YELLOW RIVER

A range survey database is established and used to study the deposition or erosion processes in the Lower Yellow River (LYR). The huge amount of data obtained through range surveys over nearly 50 years is managed by software (RGTOOLS) developed for this study. RGTOOLS is also used to evaluate the amount and distribution of deposition or erosion in LYR. Volumetric method is used for computation of the amount of deposition. Spatial and temporal variations of the deposition are studied and illustrated with drawings. It is found that a total of 6.44 billion m3 of sediment were deposited in the lower Yellow River over approximately 50 years. The pattern of deposition varies in response to the variation of oncoming flow, which is influenced by natural climatic variations and also by reservoir operation.