TY - JOUR
T1 - The exceptional sediment load of fine-grained dispersal systems
T2 - Example of the Yellow River, China
AU - Ma, Hongbo
AU - Nittrouer, Jeffrey A.
AU - Naito, Kensuke
AU - Fu, Xudong
AU - Zhang, Yuanfeng
AU - Moodie, Andrew J.
AU - Wang, Yuanjian
AU - Wu, Baosheng
AU - Parker, Gary
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Authors, some rights reserved;.
Copyright:
Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2017/5
Y1 - 2017/5
N2 - Sedimentary dispersal systems with fine-grained beds are common, yet the physics of sediment movement within them remains poorly constrained. We analyze sediment transport data for the best-documented, fine-grained river worldwide, the Huanghe (Yellow River) of China, where sediment flux is underpredicted by an order of magnitude according to well-accepted sediment transport relations. Our theoretical framework, bolstered by field observations, demonstrates that the Huanghe tends toward upper-stage plane bed, yielding minimal form drag, thus markedly enhancing sediment transport efficiency.We present a sediment transport formulation applicable to all river systems with silt to coarse-sand beds. This formulation demonstrates a remarkably sensitive dependence on grain size within a certain narrow range and therefore has special relevance to silt-sand fluvial systems, particularly those affected by dams. 2017
AB - Sedimentary dispersal systems with fine-grained beds are common, yet the physics of sediment movement within them remains poorly constrained. We analyze sediment transport data for the best-documented, fine-grained river worldwide, the Huanghe (Yellow River) of China, where sediment flux is underpredicted by an order of magnitude according to well-accepted sediment transport relations. Our theoretical framework, bolstered by field observations, demonstrates that the Huanghe tends toward upper-stage plane bed, yielding minimal form drag, thus markedly enhancing sediment transport efficiency.We present a sediment transport formulation applicable to all river systems with silt to coarse-sand beds. This formulation demonstrates a remarkably sensitive dependence on grain size within a certain narrow range and therefore has special relevance to silt-sand fluvial systems, particularly those affected by dams. 2017
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U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.1603114
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.1603114
M3 - Article
C2 - 28508078
AN - SCOPUS:85037034059
VL - 3
JO - Science advances
JF - Science advances
SN - 2375-2548
IS - 5
M1 - e1603114
ER -