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Phenomena and characteristics of barrier river reaches in the middle and lower Yangtze River, China

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Abstract

Alluvial river self-adjustment describes the mechanism whereby a river that was originally in an equilibrium state of sediment transport encounters some disturbance that destroys the balance and results in responses such as riverbed deformation. A systematic study of historical and recent aerial photographs and topographic maps in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River (MLYR) shows that river self-adjustment has the distinguishing feature of transferring from upstream to downstream, which may affect flood safety, waterway morphology, bank stability, and aquatic environmental safety over relatively long reaches downstream. As a result, it is necessary to take measures to control or block this transfer. Using the relationship of the occurrence time of channel adjustments between the upstream and downstream, 34 single-thread river reaches in the MLYR were classified into four types: corresponding, basically corresponding, basically not corresponding, not corresponding. The latter two types, because of their ability to prevent upstream channel adjustment from transferring downstream, are called barrier river reaches in this study. Statistics indicate that barrier river reaches are generally single thread and slightly curved, with a narrow and deep cross-sectional morphology, and without flow deflecting nodes in the upper and middle parts of reaches. Moreover, in the MLYR, barrier river reaches have a hydrogeometric coefficient of \({<}{4}\), a gradient \({>}\)1.2‱, a silty clay content of the concave bank \({>}{9.5}\)%, and a median diameter of the bed sediment \({>}{0.158}\) mm. The barrier river reach mechanism lies in that can effectively centralise the planimetric position of the main stream from different upstream directions, meaning that no matter how the upper channel adjusts, the main stream shows little change, providing relatively stable inflow conditions for the lower reaches. Regarding river regulation, it is necessary to optimise the benefits of barrier river reaches; long river reaches without barrier properties should be systematically planned and regulated; drastic bank collapse and sandbar shrinking should be urgently controlled to prevent the loss of barrier effects.

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Acknowledgements

This article was completed under the rigorous and careful guidance of Prof. Xiaofeng Zhang from Wuhan University. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51379155) and the National Science and Technology Support Program (Grant No. 2013BAB12B02). It was also assisted by National Key Research Program of China (Grant Nos. 2016YFC0402306; 2016YFC0402310; 2016YFC0402106). Thanks to Prof. Weiguo Hou and Chunyan Hu from Changjiang Institute of Survey Planning Design and Research, who provided the terrain data. Thanks to Dr Yunping Yang from Key Laboratory of Engineering Sediment of Tianjin Research Institute for Water Transport Engineering, who provided hydrological data and helped a lot in mapping and language. Thanks to Prof. Zhaohui Weng from Hubei Provincial Water Resources Hydropower Planning Survey and Design Institute, who provided geological data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Water Resource and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Xingying You

  2. Hubei Provincial Water Resources and Hydropower Planning Survey and Design Institute, Wuhan, China

    Xingying You

  3. Changjiang Institute of Survey Planning Design and Research, Wuhan, China

    Jinwu Tang

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  1. Xingying You
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Correspondence to Xingying You.

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Supplementary material pertaining to this article is available on the Journal of Earth System Science website (http://www.ias.ac.in/Journals/Journal_of_Earth_System_Science).

Corresponding editor: N V Chalapathi Rao

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You, X., Tang, J. Phenomena and characteristics of barrier river reaches in the middle and lower Yangtze River, China. J Earth Syst Sci 126, 61 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-017-0831-1

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