Operation Of Large Reservoirs Research Articles

Analyzing the adjustment mechanism of daily sediment content under large reservoir operations

Adjustment of daily discharge and sediment content in the Lower Jinsha River Basin has changed dramatically. However, the adjustment mechanism of daily sediment content under reservoir operation remains unclear. The Double Mass Curve (DMS) method was used to divide different periods of daily discharge-sediment content relationship change, and the Flow Duration Curve (FDC) was used to calculate the energy dissipation of streamflow by reservoirs. With the operation of large reservoirs, the average flood discharge and its proportion significantly decreased. With the variation in flow regime, the quantile relationship and Lower boundary relationship of daily discharge and sediment content both showed a downward trend, from 1999 to 2019. Under different periods, adjustment of the cross-flow profile was decreased with larger daily discharge, which was characterized by the ratio of sediment content to the lower boundary. An improved flow duration curve method was proposed to calculate the energy dissipation of streamflow. We discovered a novel model between the relative reduction of sediment content and relative energy dissipation of the daily discharge regime, with a good fitness of 0.97. In this study, the effect of the flow regime constructed on sediment content change was emphasized. It is helpful to evaluate the sediment reduction of the total basin caused by reservoirs.

Quantifying the Regulation Capacity of the Three Gorges Reservoir on Extreme Hydrological Events and Its Impact on Flow Regime in a Changing Climate

AbstractThe Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) is one of the world's largest hydropower projects and plays an important role in water resources management in the Yangtze River. For the sake of disaster prevention and catchment management, it is crucial to understand the regulation capacity of the TGR on extreme hydrological events and its impact on flow regime in a changing climate. This study obtains historical inflows of the TGR from 1961 to 2019 and uses a distributed hydrological model to simulate the future inflows from 2021 to 2070. These data are adopted to drive a machine learning‐based TGR operation model to obtain the simulated outflow with TGR operation, which are then compared with the natural flow without TGR operation to assess the impact of TGR. The results indicate that the average flood peaks and total flooding days in the historical period could have been reduced by 29.2% and 53.4% with the operation of TGR. The relative declines in drought indicators including duration and intensity were generally less than 10%. Faced with more severe extreme hydrological events in the future, the TGR is still expected to alleviate floods and droughts, but cannot bring them down to historical levels. The impact of TGR operation on flow regime will also evolve in a changing climate, potentially altering the habitats of river ecosystems. This study proposes feasible methods for simulating the operation of large reservoirs and quantifying the impact on flow regime, and provides insights for integrated watershed management in the upper Yangtze River basin.

Shrinking Desert Channel Response to Increasing Human Interferences and Changing Natural Factors in the Upper Yellow River

Many rivers are tightly coupled and intersected with aeolian sand dunes, whose geomorphological evolution involves not only fluvial processes but also aeolian processes that pose a new challenge to fluvial geomorphological studies. However, due to few field studies, our overall understanding of the desert channel geomorphic process is limited. In this paper, we present an outstanding example of desert river channel evolution regulated by aeolian–fluvial interactions in the Ulan Buh Desert of the Yellow River, based on a long time series data set (1966–2019) of channel cross-sections. The results indicate that the lateral addition of aeolian sand, the water–sediment relationship and human interference have a significant role at different periods of channel evolution. Before 1986, higher discharge, lower sediment content and greater intensity of aeolian activity caused aeolian–fluvial interactions and a relative scouring and silting balance in the channel, with little human activity. From 1986 to 2000, an increase in large reservoir operation, vegetation coverage and floodplain farming, coupled with water–sediment relationship variation, caused rapid deposition and shrinkage of the river channel. From 2000 to 2014, the channel kept a slight scouring state. With Haibowan reservoir operation beginning in 2014, the talweg experienced rapid scouring and undercut rebound. However, an expanding and stable floodplain accelerated sedimentation on the floodplain and weakened river lateral erosion, indicating that the channel has shown a shrinkage trend. Meanwhile, wavelet analysis results indicate that human interferences and aeolian activities have no significant role in the periodical characteristics of the channel’s longitudinal erosion and deposition. Therefore, on the whole, increasing human interferences and decreasing wind dynamics have driven this desert wandering channel to be stable, and to gradually form a new balance between erosion and sedimentation.

Influence of large reservoir operation on change patterns of fish community assembly and growth adaption at low and high-water levels

The Three Gorges Dam is the largest water conservancy project in the world, and the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA) possesses precious fish resources. Currently, due to the lack of efficient biodiversity monitoring tools, the precise evaluation of fish community composition in a riverine reservoir has been restricted. Here, we investigated fish resources using 12S-rDNA barcoding in the TGRA before and after 175 m water level during the first year of a 10-year Yangtze fishing ban. Our results showed that the fish composition exhibited obvious seasonal differences. The environmental water levels, land use, and spatial characteristics less influenced the development of fish communities. Based on Infer Community Assembly Mechanisms (iCAMP) by phylogenetic bin-based null model analysis, 66.12 % of unexplained variables were driven by stochastic processes of community assembly and unmeasured key factors. We developed a growth-limiting index (GLI) and firstly applied it to inferring fish environmental adaptability, revealing the growth adaption response of reservoir fish species to environmental pressure. Compared to the downstream from the dam, fish population growth at the low- or high-water levels was partly inhibited. However, seven species of tiny or medium-sized fish showed strong adaptability in the reservoir region at both water levels. Taken together, this study clarified the patterns of fish community assembly in the TGRA and provided unique insights for chronic monitoring of fish diversities in a reservoir.

Large-scale sediment and phosphorus transport in the Three Gorges Reservoir based on a new reservoir operation method

Change of hydrodynamic conditions is a key factor inducing sedimentation, water eutrophication and algal blooms in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR). How to mitigate sedimentation and phosphorus (P) retention by improving hydrodynamic conditions in the Three Gorges Reservoir area (TGRA) is an urgent issue in the study of sediment and water environment. In this study, a Hydrodynamic-Sediment-Water quality model for the whole TGRA is proposed considering sediment and P inputs from numerous tributaries, and a new reservoir operation method namely the tide-type operation method (TTOM) is used to investigate the large-scale sediment and P transport in the TGR based on the model. Results indicate that the TTOM can reduce sedimentation and total phosphorus (TP) retention in the TGR. Compared with the actual operation method (AOM), sediment outflow and sediment export ratio (Eratio) of the TGR increased about 17.13% and 1%–3% in 2015–2017, and sedimentation decreased about 3% under the TTOM. TP retention flux and retention rate (RE) decreased about 13.77% and 2%–4%. The flow velocity (V) and sediment carrying capacity (S*) increased about 40% in the local reach. Larger daily water level fluctuation at dam site is more conducive to reducing sedimentation and TP retention in the TGR. Sediment inputs from the Yangtze River, Jialing River, Wu River and other tributaries account for 59.27%, 11.21%, 3.81% and 25.70% of the total sediment inflow during 2015–2017, and TP inputs were 65.96%, 10.01%, 17.40% and 6.63%. In the paper, an innovative method is proposed to reduce sedimentation and P retention in the TGR under the given hydrodynamic conditions and related quantitative contribution driven by the proposed method is analyzed. The work is favorable for expanding the understanding of the hydrodynamic and nutrition flux changes in the TGR, and provides a new perspective for water environment protection and reasonable operation of large reservoirs.

Seismicity caused by hydrological regime of large reservoirs

By the analysis of the results of assessing the deformations of the base with a change in the hydrological regime of reservoirs, it is stated that during the operation of large reservoirs, its base and coastal slopes are located in the field of compression and tension loads of the corresponding intensity of the base bending amplitudes with a variation in water volume. It is shown that mountain massifs deformations at large reservoirs' bases can correspond to limiting tectonic focal deformations, which directly affect the regular stress-strain state and background geodynamic movements near the lying seismically active layer of the earth's crust. The study aims to identify the conditions for developing local geodynamic processes in the zones of deformational influence of large reservoirs, solving problems of mathematical physics for specific seismically active fault zones crossing the foundations of large hydraulic structures. An analysis of the results of processing the observed earthquake frequency, elastic displacements in the near zones of reservoirs, and estimates of local deformations shows the influence of changes in the hydrological regime in reservoirs on the activation of weak local earthquakes. It is explained that they are non-linear in nature and are associated with other influencing factors: additional load, the presence of local and active tectonic faults, flooding, and changes in pore pressure.

Tempo-spatial and Retention Analysis of Total Phosphorus in the Three Gorges Reservoir

Phosphorus, as a limiting and vital macronutrient in water, circulates mainly with sediment through rivers. The construction and operation of large reservoirs can have a profound impact on the characteristics of phosphorus transportation and transformation. Based on measured hydrological and water quality data during 2008-2016 in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR), a statistical model of total phosphorus (TP) flux and sediment load in different periods was established. The formula of TP flux was established by analyzing the interpolation of unmeasured TP concentration, tempo-spatial characteristics, flux variation, and the retention effect of TP in the TGR. The results indicated that taking no account of the effects of TP inflows of tributaries, annual TP concentration in the TGR varied between 0.196 mg·L-1 and 0.290 mg·L-1 during 2008-2012, and inner-annual changes in TP concentration presented an "M" type with two obvious peaks. TP concentration decreased slowly from upstream to downstream of the TGR, and increased significantly from Cuntan to Qingxichang in some years. The average annual TP flux and retention rate of the TGR were 82300 t and 49.76% during 2008-2012, respectively. During 2013-2016, the average annual TP flux and retention rate decreased significantly, to about 47900 t and 12.03%, respectively.

Deriving optimal operation of reservoir proposing improved artificial bee colony algorithm: standard and constrained versions

Abstract In this paper, one of the newest meta-heuristic algorithms, named artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm, is used to solve the single-reservoir operation optimization problem. The simple and hydropower reservoir operation optimization problems of Dez reservoir, in southern Iran, have been solved here over 60, 240, and 480 monthly operation time periods considering two different decision variables. In addition, to improve the performance of this algorithm, two improved artificial bee colony algorithms have been proposed and these problems have been solved using them. Furthermore, in order to improve the performance of proposed algorithms to solve large-scale problems, two constrained versions of these algorithms have been proposed, in which in these algorithms the problem constraints have been explicitly satisfied. Comparison of the results shows that using the proposed algorithm leads to better results with low computational costs in comparison with other available methods such as genetic algorithm (GA), standard and improved particle swarm optimization (IPSO) algorithm, honey-bees mating optimization (HBMO) algorithm, ant colony optimization algorithm (ACOA), and gravitational search algorithm (GSA). Therefore, the proposed algorithms are capable algorithms to solve large reservoir operation optimization problems.

Diversity and Distribution of Riparian Arthropods in the Drawdown Zone of China’s Three Gorges Reservoir

Riparian zones are interesting habitats as they are important transitional zones between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, but highly threatened by human disturbances. They support a high arthropod diversity as they experience periodic flooding disturbance and sharp environmental gradients. Their associated arthropod fauna are of high conservation value. Nevertheless, their arthropod diversity remains largely unknown, and its distribution pattern along elevational gradients is poorly understood. Few data are available on the effects of flood regimes and other factors in determining riparian arthropod communities. In this study, we investigated the diversity and distribution of riparian arthropods along an elevational gradient and determined the major factors structuring the arthropod communities in the drawdown zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir, China. Significant compositional and structural changes of riparian arthropod communities were observed along the test elevational gradient. The abundance and richness of riparian arthropods increased with elevation. The relative abundance of predators decreased with elevation, whereas the saprovores and omnivores showed an upward trend along the elevational gradient. Redundancy analysis showed that there were significant interactions between the flood regimes, plant communities, and soil conditions. Among these environmental factors studied, flood duration was the main factor in structuring the riparian arthropod communities. Conservation and restoration strategies should consider flood duration in the operation of large reservoirs because riparian arthropods are particularly sensitive to flood regimes.

Response of channel scouring and deposition to the regulation of large reservoirs: A case study of the lower reaches of the Yellow River (Huanghe)

The lower reaches of the Yellow River (Huanghe), a typical “raised bed river,” have experienced many huge flood events in Chinese history. As the main factor controlling the topographic evolution of the channel, the water and sediment-supply conditions of the Yellow River have undergone significant changes since the implementation of the water and sediment regulation scheme (WSRS) in 2002 by the joint operation of large reservoirs. Hence, it is necessary to conduct systematic research and evaluation on how the regulation scheme influences the scouring and deposition of the downstream channel. This study used the elevation data of 79 fixed profiles collected between 1992 and 2012 from the channel downstream from Gaocun in the Yellow River to establish a digital elevation model. The elevation model was used to investigate the spatio-temporal characteristics of channel scouring and deposition in the study area and to determine the main controlling factors. The results show that on an inter-annual scale, the channel scouring and deposition pattern began to change from substantial deposition to rapid erosion after 2002. On a seasonal scale, the overall characteristic was erosion in the flood season and deposition in the dry season; however, the erosion rate in the flood season increased and the deposition rate in the dry season decreased after 2002. From the spatial perspective, the downstream riverbed experienced net deposition before 2002 and net scouring after 2002. The WSRS altered the regimes of water and sediment of the river and therefore dominated scouring and deposition in the downstream channel. Since the implementation of the WSRS, continuous channel scouring in the study area provided about 41% of coarse-grained sediments for the Yellow River, and formed an important source of sediments entering the sea. However, because of the formation of an armor layer of coarse-grained sediments on the downstream riverbed surface due to continuous scouring after the implementation of the WSRS, the erosion flux of the river channel in the lower reaches of the Yellow River has shown a significant decrease since 2005. This study provides a typical case study for the response of the topographic evolution of rivers to water and sediment changes under the influence of intense human activities.

Dokan Hydropower Reservoir Operation under Stochastic Conditions as Regards the Inflows and the Energy Demands

This paper presented a way of obtaining certain operating rules on time steps for the management of a large reservoir operation with a peak hydropower plant associated to it. The rules were allowed to have the form of non-linear regression equations which link a decision variable (here the water volume in the reservoir at the end of the time step) by several parameters influencing it. This paper considered the Dokan hydroelectric development KR-Iraq, which operation data are available for. It was showing that both the monthly average inflows and the monthly power demands are random variables. A model of deterministic dynamic programming intending the minimization of the total amount of the squares differences between the demanded energy and the generated energy is run with a multitude of annual scenarios of inflows and monthly required energies. The operating rules achieved allow the efficient and safe management of the operation and it is quietly and accurately known the forecast of the inflow and of the energy demand on the next time step.

Operation of Dokan Reservoir under Stochastic Conditions as Regards the Inflows and the Energy Demands

This paper presented a way of obtaining certain operating rules on time steps for the management of a large reservoir operation with a peak hydropower plant associated to it. The rules were allowed to have the form of non-linear regression equations which link a decision variable (here the water volume in the reservoir at the end of the time step) by several parameters influencing it.This paper considered the Dokan hydroelectric development KR-Iraq, which operation data are available for. It was showing that both the monthly average inflows and the monthly power demands are random variables. A model of deterministic dynamic programming intending the minimization of the total amount of the squares differences between the demanded energy and the generated energy is run with a multitude of annual scenarios of inflows and monthly required energies.The operating rules achieved allow the efficient and safe management of the operation and it is quietly and accurately known the forecast of the inflow and of the energy demand on the next time step.

Influence of Large Reservoir Operation on Water-Levels and Flows in Reaches below Dam: Case Study of the Three Gorges Reservoir

The Three Gorges Project (TGP) is the world’s largest water conservation project. The post-construction low-flow water level at the same discharge below the dam has declined, but there remains disagreement over whether the flood level has increased. Measured water levels and upstream and downstream flow data from 1955 to 2016 show that, post-construction: (1) the low-flow water level at the same discharge decreased, and the lowest water level increased due to dry-season reservoir discharge; (2) the decline of the low-flow water level below the dam was less than the undercutting value of the flow channel of the river; (3) the flood level at the same discharge below the dam was slightly elevated, although peak water levels decreased; (4) flood characteristics changed from a high discharge–high flood level to a medium discharge – high flood level; and (5) an expected decline in the flood level downstream was not observed. Channel erosion and the adjustment of rivers and lakes tend to reduce flood levels, while river bed coarsening, vegetation, and human activities downstream increase the flood level. Although the flood control benefits of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) and the upstream reservoirs are obvious, increased elevation of the downstream flood level remains a concern.

Nonstationarity in maximum annual daily streamflow series from Southern Brazil

ABSTRACT Extreme streamflow values estimates are important for flood risk assessment and also for the design and operation of hydraulic structures. The behavior of this hydrological variable is under climate and land use changes effects and river’s course modifications caused by construction and operation of large reservoirs. The assumption of stationarity commonly adopted in flood frequency and magnitude analysis studies is questionable under such circumstances. In this work we identified nonstationary annual maximum streamflow series corresponding to fluviometric gauges located in Southern Brazil. A nonstationary frequency model was applied to those series and the results were compared with those of a stationary model. We also evaluated the presence of abrupt changes in the series. The results indicate that 75 of 157 series of Southern Brazil may be considered nonstationary, most of which are in the Iguazu, the Paranapanema and the Uruguay basins. For a planning horizon equal to 10 years, the return period of the present 100 years flood changes to 48-75 years when considering the nonstationary model, respectively. Abrupt changes were identified mainly as occurring in the 70’s.

Influences of retrogressive erosion of reservoir on sedimentation of its downstream river channel—A case study on Sanmenxia Reservoir and the Lower Yellow River

Retrogressive erosion, a widespread phenomenon of sediment transport in reservoirs, often impacts on both the reservoir capacity and the sedimentation in the downstream river channel. Based on field data from the Sanmenxia Reservoir and the Lower Yellow River over the past decades, three courses of retrogressive erosion with distinctive features were analyzed. The results indicate that retrogressive erosion, especially caused by rapid reduction in the water level till the reservoir is empty, often results in the serious siltation of the lower Yellow River and threatens the safety of the flood control in the Lower Yellow River. Unreasonable operation of the reservoir and incoming hyperconcentrated floods accompanied by retrogressive erosion also aggravate the siltation of the main channel of the river. However, a reasonable operation mode of the reservoir so named”storing the clear (low sediment concentration) water in the non–flood season, and sluicing the muddy(high sediment concentration) water in the flood season” was found, which might mitigate the deposition in both the reservoir and the Lower Yellow River. This operation mode provides important experience for the design and operation of large reservoirs in other large rivers carrying huge amounts of sediment.

Analysis of river runoff in the Poyang Lake Basin of China: long-term changes and influencing factors

ABSTRACTAn analysis of the variation characteristics and evolutionary trends in the runoff of five rivers in the Poyang Lake Basin was conducted using the MK trend test, Morlet wavelet transforms, correlation analyses, and other methods. For 1956–2011, the inflow runoff displays small, statistically insignificant trends. However, for 2000–2011, significant downward trends are present. River runoff in the basin is significantly correlated with precipitation, while water intake and use is less influential; the most significant impact on river runoff is climate variability. To analyse the effects of water conservancy project scheduling and operation, we also compare the inflow and outflow runoff processes of typical large reservoirs before and after peak reservoir construction. The scheduling and operation of large reservoirs in the five rivers is known to play a supplementary role in dry season inflow runoff. The recent reduction in inflow runoff was mainly caused by basin precipitation; reasonable scheduling of water conservancy projects in the five rivers plays a positive role in safeguarding the water required by the dry season ecosystem in Poyang Lake.

Comparison of channel geometry changes in Inner Mongolian reach of the Yellow River before and after joint operation of large upstream reservoirs

The impact of reservoirs on downstream river channel change has been a scientific issue in fluvial geomorphology during the last few decades. However, it is still a difficult issue as to how to express quantitatively the channel adjustment in the Inner Mongolian reach of the Yellow River induced by the joint operation of upstream reservoirs. Based on the shape parameters of channel cross-sections at four gauging stations in this river reach over a flooding season in two periods, 1978–1982 and 2008–2012, the present work investigated the channel changes in terms of shape parameter change rate under the same controlling water level in each flooding season at the channel cross-sections. Results showed that most of the change rates of the parameters evidently increased over a flooding season in both periods. However, the change rate of each parameter at the cross-sections decreased evidently in the latter period, compared with the former period. At the same time, the distribution pattern of the change rate of the shape parameters along the cross-sections thus changed from a convex curve in the former period to an S-shaped curve in the latter period. The obvious decrease of the change rates is related to the joint operation of the Liujiaxia and Longyangxia reservoirs. The reservoirs stored a large volume of water and decreased the peak discharge and maximum velocity in the flooding season; as a result, the erosion ability of the flood decreased accordingly. With the joint operation of the large reservoirs, the Inner Mongolian channel shrunk markedly. Therefore, the channel will present the possibility of an extreme flood in the future. Consequently, it is reasonable to adjust the function of the reservoirs in future. The total water and sediment discharges and the peak discharge in flooding seasons should be effectively controlled. Continuous shrinkage of the channel can thus be avoided and it can be ready for a potential extreme flood.

Risk analysis in the spillway of dam Orós by excess of influent flow

This paper presents the practical application of concepts, and some methods of risk analysis, to check the possibility of overcoming a water level of project in the spillway of dam Orós, by excess of influent flow. Also evaluated the empirical formulas contained in the original design. Due to the difficulty of obtaining design data from the dam, since the end of construction date of January, 11, 1961, we minimize the effects of some variables in the calculations, leading us to the consequent simplification of the scenario under study. For a better evaluation and characterization of the setting, some variables in the model such as water level, accumulation and flow of the spillway, had updated their data to June 28, 2011. We have demonstrated the importance of risk analysis for project design, construction and operation of large reservoirs, and the need for ongoing assessments of works of this nature.

Can an environment-friendly management policy improve the overall performance of an artificial lake? Analysis of a multipurpose dam in Greece

► Bad management strategies in the operation of large reservoirs may have multiple negative impacts not only to the broader environmental quality but also to the hydrological performance of such projects, due to the dramatic decrease of their reliability. ► Based on a real-world case, we employ a multidisciplinary approach to compromise a number of contradictory water uses and criteria. ► We suggest to maintain the reservoir level above a minimum limit and to establish a constant release for agricultural uses. ► Our analysis with both synthetic and historical data ensures that all economic activities would benefit from this policy. ► Thus, the conflict between environmental protection and exploitation of water resources proved to have efficient technical solutions, although, in practice, it faced multiple social constraints. Taking as example a multipurpose dam in Greece, we wish to show that by following a rational operation policy, where the improvement of the broader environmental system becomes a high-priority target, it is possible to achieve a much more efficient allocation of its “traditional” water uses. In this context, we review the 50-year history of the Plastiras reservoir in central Greece, to highlight the multiple negative impacts from a non-systematic, abstraction-oriented, operation policy. This kind of management is contrasted to a hypothetical one, obtained through a multidisciplinary methodological framework that has been developed ten years ago, which aimed to compromise a number of conflicting water uses. This required establishing a minimum allowable level for agricultural abstractions and stabilising the annual releases for irrigation and drinking water supply. The criteria under study are, directly or indirectly, related to the water storage in the lake. Therefore, the key idea is to investigate the performance of each criterion with regard to the variability of the level, by examining alternative level vs. abstraction control rules. Thus, the quantity of water that would be yearly available is a function of the minimum level allowed and the desirable reliability. In fact, objective analysis indicates that the maintenance of the reservoir level as high as possible is necessary for the conservation of the quality of the lake's landscape, for the development of tourist activity and also for providing drinking water of good quality. The advantages of the proposed framework are then exhibited through a back-analysis that focuses to the recent period. The implementation of this management policy not only would improve the water and landscape quality as well as the tourist perspectives, but also allow for a much more efficient planning of the agricultural and, under some premises, hydroelectric energy needs. Thus, the adoption of a constant annual release, irrespective of the recent sequence of inflows, may be beneficial for the long-term interests of all social groups and, therefore, conflicts among drinking water supply, tourism, landscape quality, irrigation and hydroelectric production would become less intense. Yet, the practice showed that a consensus between scientists, authorities and stakeholders for establishing the suggested policy is a considerably difficult task.

Mineral compositions and sources of the riverbed sediment in the desert channel of Yellow River

The Yellow River flows through an extensive, aeolian desert area and extends from Xiaheyan, Ningxia Province, to Toudaoguai, Inner Mongolia Province, with a total length of 1,000km. Due to the construction and operation of large reservoirs in the upstream of the Yellow River, most water and sediment from upstream were stored in these reservoirs, which leads to the declining flow in the desert channel that has no capability to scour large amount of input of desert sands from the desert regions. By analyzing and comparing the spatial distribution of weight percent of mineral compositions between sediment sources and riverbed sediment of the main tributaries and the desert channel of the Yellow River, we concluded that the coarse sediment deposited in the desert channel of the Yellow River were mostly controlled by the local sediment sources. The analyzed results of the Quartz-Feldspar-Mica (QFM) triangular diagram and the R-factor models of the coarse sediment in the Gansu reach and the desert channel of the Yellow River further confirm that the Ningxia Hedong desert and the Inner Mongolian Wulanbuhe and Kubuqi deserts are the main provenances of the coarse sediment in the desert channel of the Yellow River. Due to the higher fluidity of the fine sediment, they are mainly contributed by the local sediment sources and the tributaries that originated from the loess area of the upper reach of the Yellow River.