Abstract
The Huanghe River (Yellow River) is the most sediment laden river system in the world, and many efforts have been conducted to understand modern deltaic evolution in response to anthropological impacts. However, the natural background and its linkage to climatic changes are less documented in previous studies. In this work, we studied the sediments of core YDZ–3 and marine surface samples by grain-size analysis to retrieve Holocene dynamics of the Huanghe River delta in detail. The main findings are as follows: The mean value of sediment grain size of the studied core is 5.5 ± 0.9 Φ, and silt and sand contents are 5.2 ± 2.3% and 8.2 ± 5.3%, respectively, while the variance of clay particles is relatively large with an average value of 86.4 ± 8.5%. All grain-size data can be mathematically partitioned by a Weibull-based function formula, and three subgroups were identified with modal sizes of 61.1 ± 28.9 μm, 30.0 ± 23.9 μm, and 2.8 ± 1.6 μm, respectively. There are eight intervals with abrupt changes in modal size of core YDZ–3, which can be correlated to paleo-superlobe migration of the Huanghe River in the Holocene. Based on these observations, the presence of seven superlobes in the history are confirmed for the first time and their ages are well constrained in this study, including Paleo-Superlobes Lijin (6400–5280 yr BP), Huanghua (4480–4190 yr BP), Jugezhuang (3880–3660 yr BP), Shajinzi (3070–2870 yr BP), Nigu (2780–2360 yr BP), Qikou (2140–2000 yr BP), and Kenli (1940–1780 and 1700–1650 yr BP). By tuning geomorphological events to a sedimentary proxy derived from core YDZ–3 and comparing to various paleoenvironmental changes, we proposed that winter climate dominated Holocene shifts of the Huanghe River delta on millennial timescales, while summer monsoons controlled deltaic evolution on centennial timescales.
Highlights
The Huanghe River (Yellow River) is the second-longest river in China, and the fifth-longest and the most sediment laden river in the world
To document Holocene deltaic evolution of the Huanghe River, core YDZ–3 and marine surface sediments were studied in terms of sediment grain-size analysis, and paleosuperlobe migrations were tuned to sedimentary sequences
We found that the mean value of sediment grain size is 5.5 ± 0.9 Φ in core YDZ–3, and silt and sand particles changed relatively little with average values of 5.2 ± 2.3% and 8.2 ± 5.3%, respectively, while clay content is 86.4 ± 8.5%
Summary
The Huanghe River (Yellow River) is the second-longest river in China, and the fifth-longest and the most sediment laden river in the world. The river originates from the northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, flows across the Chinese Loess Plateau, and discharges into the western Bohai Sea (Figure 1). The annual sediment loads of the Huanghe River are ~1.08 × 109 tons [1], and most recently, anthropological impacts on sediment supply of the Huanghe River have become profound [2,3]. The delta of the Huanghe River stands at the threshold between erosion and aggradation, according to the fluvial discharge rate of 7.67 × 109 m3 /year and the sediment load of. 0.278 × 109 ton/year [4].
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