High-Arsenic Groundwater in Paleochannels of the Lower Yellow River, China: Distribution and Genesis Mechanisms

High–arsenic (As) groundwater poses a serious threat to human health. The upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River are well–known areas for the enrichment of high–arsenic groundwater. However, little is known about the distribution characteristics and formation mechanism of high-As groundwater in the lower reach of the Yellow River. There were 203 groundwater samples collected in different groundwater systems of the lower Yellow River for the exploration of its hydrogeochemical characteristics. Results showed that more than 20% of the samples have arsenic concentrations exceeding 10 μg/L. The high-As groundwater was mainly distributed in Late Pleistocene–Holocene aquifers, and the As concentrations in the paleochannels systems (C2 and C4) were significantly higher than that of the paleointerfluve system (C3) and modern Yellow River affected system (C5). The high-As groundwater is characterized by high Fe2+ and NH4+ and low Eh and NO3−, indicating that reductive dissolution of the As–bearing iron oxides is probably the main cause of As release. The arsenic concentrations strikingly showed an increasing tendency as the HCO3− proportion increases, suggesting that HCO3− competitive adsorption may facilitate As mobilization, too. In addition, a Gibbs diagram showed that the evaporation of groundwater could be another significant hydrogeochemical processes, except for the water–rock interaction in the study area. Different sources of aquifer medium and sedimentary structure may be the main reasons for the significant zonation of the As spatial distribution in the lower Yellow River.

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Study on Ecological Scheduling of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir Based on the Ecological Needs of Estuarine Fishes

MATEC Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/matecconf/201824601045 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 246 ◽

pp. 01045

Author(s):

Shimin Tian ◽

Yi Zhao ◽

Yuanjian Wang ◽

Enhui Jiang ◽

Shoubing Yu

Keyword(s):

Yellow River ◽

River Estuary ◽

The Yellow River ◽

Large Reservoir ◽

Lower Yellow River ◽

The Lower Yellow River ◽

Estuarine Fishes ◽

Water Demands ◽

Xiaolangdi Reservoir ◽

Water Amount

The total water amount into the Yellow River estuary is significantly reduced with the construction of a series of reservoirs in the Yellow River, which has a lot of adversely effects on the fishes and fishery resources in the estuary. This research analyzes the impacts of the reservoirs on the runoff and discharge in the Lower Yellow River and the estuary, and pays more attention to the influences of the reduction of water amount on the estuarine ecology and fishes. As a large reservoir nearest to the estuary in the Lower Yellow River, the operation of Xiaolangdi Reservoir plays an important role on the ecological restoration of the lower reaches of the Yellow River and the estuary. Two ecological operation schemes are proposed based on the ecological demands of the estuarine fishes and the actual operation of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir in recent years. One scheme is proposed only on the basis of the estuarine ecological water demands and another scheme takes consideration of ecological water demands and the actual status of the water resources in the Lower Yellow River synthetically. Finally, the feasibility of the two schemes are analyzed according to the actual situation of water storage of the reservoirs in the Yellow River in 2017.

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A 2000-year documentary record of levee breaches on the lower Yellow River and their relationship with climate changes and human activities

The Holocene ◽

10.1177/0959683620972764 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 095968362097276

Author(s):

Wen-Jia Li ◽

Shi-Yong Yu ◽

Jianrong Pan ◽

Xianyong Cao ◽

Yingying Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Changes ◽

Yellow River ◽

Future Climate ◽

The Yellow River ◽

Economic Risk ◽

Human Welfare ◽

Lower Yellow River ◽

The Lower Yellow River ◽

Documentary Sources ◽

Driving Mechanisms

The Yellow River floodplain represents a fertile landmass that contributes significantly to human welfare and thus has been colloquially known as the birthplace of Chinese civilization. The sediment-laden nature of the Yellow River gave rise to a super-elevated channel belt, which is prone to failure particularly in the summer months when excessive precipitation occurs, resulting in cataclysmic floods traditionally regarded as “China’s Sorrow.” Therefore, a deeper understanding of levee breach frequency in this area is especially important for the assessment of socio-economic risk of levee breaches associated with future climate changes. To better understand the nature, evolution, and driving mechanisms of levee breaches on the lower Yellow River, it is necessary to place the instrumental data within a longer time framework. Here, we retrieve past information about levee breaches on the lower Yellow River since AD 11 from various documentary sources such as official histories of China. We evaluated each line of descriptions and narratives about the location, timing, and nature of each event in these documents, ending up with a detailed timeline of levee breaches on the lower Yellow River during the last 2000 years on an annual time scale. Our results reveal remarkable variations in the frequency of levee breaches superimposed on a long-term increasing trend. In addition to climate changes, the iterative embankment-siltation-breaching process caused a feedback: more breaches result in much more channel siltation, which in turn leads to even more breaches. The enhanced farming in the Loess Plateau played a pivotal role in the formation and operation of this positive feedback. Our findings may not only help improve the assessment of socio-economic risk of levee breaches associated with future climate changes, but also provide consulting information for hydraulic engineering and infrastructural designs in the lower Yellow river area.

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The variation and attribution analysis of the runoff and sediment in the lower reach of the Yellow River during the past 60 years

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2021.085 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hongxiang Wang ◽

Jinghang Liu ◽

Wenxian Guo

Keyword(s):

Human Activities ◽

Sediment Load ◽

Yellow River ◽

Annual Runoff ◽

Ratio Method ◽

The Yellow River ◽

Lower Reach ◽

Lower Yellow River ◽

The Lower Yellow River ◽

Water And Sediment

Abstract The water and sediment regimes of the Yellow River are the basis of decision-making of major projects of the Yellow River. Based on the water and sediment data at the Huayuankou station, Gaocun station, Aishan station, Lijin station in the lower reach of the Yellow River, the Mann-Kendall test, the T-test for differences, wavelet analysis, slope change ratio method and the double cumulative curve method were applied to analyze the runoff and sediment regimes alteration. The results show that the water and sediment of the lower Yellow River have a significant downward trend, and the annual sediment decreases significantly compared with the annual runoff. The annual runoff and sediment of the four hydrological stations changed around the 1980 and 1990s, respectively. The water and sediment of hydrological stations have periodic variations on multiple time scales, but the variation scales are different. Precipitation, human activities and other factors lead to the decrease trend of water and sediment in the lower Yellow River, and their contribution rates to the change of water and sediment are also different. Precipitation contributed 0.15%–8.71% and 0.06%–22.32% to the reduction of runoff and sediment load at hydrological stations, while human activities contributed 91.29%–99.85% and 77.68%–102.21% to the reduction of runoff and sediment load, respectively. Human activity is the main factor of runoff and sediment reduction.

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Rates of Organic Carbon Burial in a Floodplain Lake of the Lower Yellow River Area During the Late Holocene

Radiocarbon ◽

10.2458/56.17923 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 56 (3) ◽

pp. 1129-1138 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Shi-Yong Yu ◽

Chunhai Li ◽

Xuexiang Chen ◽

Guiyun Jin ◽

Hui Fang

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Late Holocene ◽

Carbon Budget ◽

Bohai Sea ◽

Yellow River ◽

The Yellow River ◽

Lower Yellow River ◽

The Lower Yellow River ◽

Carbon Burial ◽

Organic Carbon Burial

The rapid outward and upward growth of the world's large fluvial sedimentary systems during the second half of the Holocene is a remarkable geologic process that may have buried considerable areas of pre-existing riparian wetlands, which in turn would sequester massive carbon. However, the role of floodplain lakes in the global carbon budget has long been neglected. This article demonstrates the potential of organic carbon burial due to floodplain aggradation during the late Holocene by analyzing a sediment core from a buried floodplain lake in the lower Yellow River area. Based on detailed radiocarbon dating, this study inferred that landscape development in the study area has experienced three disparate stages closely related to the displacement of the lower Yellow River channel. The first stage (∼2250–1700 cal yr BP) represents a widespread pedogenic process while the Yellow River discharged to the northern Bohai Sea through a course much farther north from the present-day position. The subsequent stage (∼1700–1000 cal yr BP) broadly corresponds to the calm period of the Yellow River while it discharged to the southern Bohai Sea through a course slightly north from the present-day position. A lacustrine environment prevailed during this period, sequestering organic carbon at a rate of ∼0.58 kg m 2 yr 1. The final stage (∼1000 cal yr BP to present) is marked by the rapid growth of the floodplain due to the frequent rerouting of the lower Yellow River. This analysis suggests that fluvial sedimentary systems should be integrated into the terrestrial carbon budget when accounting for the aberrant rise of the atmospheric CO2 in the face of global cooling during the second half of the Holocene.

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Experimental Research on Solidifying Sediment in Irrigation Districts along the Lower Yellow River

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.598.585 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 598 ◽

pp. 585-589

Author(s):

Liang Ma ◽

Xiao Mei Li ◽

Rui Juan Zhang

Keyword(s):

Compressive Strength ◽

Experimental Research ◽

Yellow River ◽

The Yellow River ◽

Curing Agent ◽

Lower Yellow River ◽

The Lower Yellow River ◽

Irrigation Districts ◽

Water Conservancy ◽

Wall Construction

Based on the analysis of physical characteristics about the desilting sediment diverted from the Yellow River in irrigation districts, the solidified sediment product was successfully manufactured. In the research, it was found that the cement dosage as one of the mixed curing agent had obvious influence on the properties of solidified sediment product. As the compressive strength, impermeability and frost-resistanceproducts of the product meet the requirement of moderate water conservancy engineering, it was successfully applied in the Sanfengan Canal lining and the Yanglanhe Reservoir wave wall construction, which set a good example for the future comprehensive sediment utilization in irrigation districts.

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