Uranium isotopic constraints on the nature of the prehistoric flood at the Lajia site, China

Geology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-18
Author(s):  
Le Li ◽  
Jun Chen ◽  
David William Hedding ◽  
Yuanhe Fu ◽  
Maolin Ye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flood Control ◽  
Fine Particles ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
River Sediments ◽  
Landslide Dam ◽  
The Yellow River ◽  
Outburst Flood ◽  
Lajia Site ◽  
Yellow River Sediments ◽  
Ancient Documents

Abstract The catastrophic landslide-dam outburst flood, possibly caused by the same earthquake that destroyed the well-dated Lajia archaeological site, in the upper reaches of the Yellow River in China, may provide an accurate constraint on the age of the first Chinese dynasty (Xia Dynasty), which, according to Chinese ancient documents, has been associated with flood-control activities. The key link between the destructive earthquake and the megaflood is a flood-related blackish sand layer (BSL) covering the Lajia site on terraces high above the Yellow River channel. However, the BSL, which mainly consists of debris of local schist, may have originated from mudflows in local gullies rather than an outburst flood from the Yellow River that swept predominantly schist debris from channel slopes and/or a landslide dam. The composition of the fine particles in the BSL can help to discriminate the provenance of the BSL because an outburst flood would consist of suspended particles from the Yellow River, while a mudflow origin would incorporate fine particles from the local gullies. However, the similar geological origin between the Yellow River sediments and the Quaternary eolian loess and Tertiary reddish clay sediments that feed the local gullies precludes the application of traditional geochemical source tracers. This work shows that the 234U/238U activity ratio, which reflects the comminution age, of the fine particles in the BSL is very similar to that of the Yellow River sediments but not to the sediments in the local gullies, supporting an outburst flood origin of the BSL. Thus, the emergence of the Xia Dynasty can be constrained to be shortly after the sudden destruction of the Lajia site, if the outburst flood is the same event that initiated nationalization as described in the Chinese ancient documents.

scholarly journals Heavy Mineral Variability in the Yellow River Sediments as Determined by the Multiple-Window Strategy

Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingfu Jin ◽  
Mengyao Wang ◽  
Wei Yue ◽  
Lina Zhang ◽  
Yanjun Wang
Keyword(s):  
Particle Size ◽  
Grain Size ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
River Sediments ◽  
Size Fraction ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
The Yellow River ◽  
Yellow River Sediment ◽  
Yellow River Sediments ◽  
End Members

In this study, heavy mineral analysis was carried out in different size fractions of the Yellow River sediment to extract its end-members. It shows that heavy mineral contents, species, and compositions vary in different grain sizes. Distribution curve of heavy mineral concentration (HMC) and particle size frequency curve are in normal distribution. In most samples, the size fraction of 4.5–5.0 Φ contains the maximum HMC (18% on average). Heavy mineral assemblages of the Yellow River are featured by amphibole + epidote + limonite + garnet. Amphibole content is high in coarse fraction of >3.0 Φ and reaches its peak value in 3.5–4.5 Φ. Epidote is rich in a size fraction of >3.5 Φ, and increase as the particle size becomes fine. Micas content is high in coarse subsamples of <3.0 Φ, but almost absent in fine grains of >4.0 Φ. Metallic minerals (magnetite, ilmenite, hematite, and limonite) increase as the sediment particle size become fine, and reach the peak in silt (>4.0 Φ). Other minerals such as zircon, rutile, tourmaline, garnet, and apatite account for about 15%, and mainly concentrate in fine sediment. Further analysis reveals that similarity value between the most abundant grain size group and wide window grain size group is high (0.978 on average). The grain size of 4.0–5.0 Φ ± 0.5 Φ is suitable to carry out detrital mineral analysis in the Yellow River sediments. Our study helps to eliminate cognitive bias due to narrow grain size strategy, and to provide heavy mineral end-members of the Yellow River sediment for provenance discrimination in the marginal seas of East China.

Competitive adsorption, release and speciation of heavy metals in the Yellow River sediments, China

2007 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingyun Fan ◽  
Jiang He ◽  
Hongxi Xue ◽  
Changwei LÜ ◽  
Ying Liang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Competitive Adsorption ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
River Sediments ◽  
The Yellow River ◽  
Yellow River Sediments

Hydrothermal Solidification of the Yellow River Sediments

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Jing ◽  
L. Zhou ◽  
X. Ran ◽  
E. H. Ishida ◽  
Fangming Jin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Yellow River ◽  
River Sediments ◽  
The Yellow River ◽  
Yellow River Sediments

scholarly journals Evaluation of Environmental and Ecological Impacts of the Leading Large-Scale Reservoir on the Upper Reaches of the Yellow River

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 3818
Author(s):  
Jun Qiu ◽  
Tie-Jian Li ◽  
Fang-Fang Li
Keyword(s):  
Flood Control ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
Yellow River Basin ◽  
Water Area ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Control Area ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
The Yellow River ◽  
Water Demands

Large-scale reservoirs have played a significant role in meeting various water demands and socio-economic development, while they also lead to undeniable impacts on the environment and ecology. The Longyangxia reservoir located on the Yellow River is the first large-scale reservoir on the upper Yellow River with a control area of 18% of the entire Yellow River Basin. Since it was put into operation in 1987, it has made great contributions to the national economy for over 30 years. In this study, the socio-economic benefits of the Longyangxia reservoir in power generation, water supply, flood control, and ice prevention are investigated. More importantly, its impacts on the ecology and environment are also presented and analyzed, such as the impacts on river morphology, flow regimes, peak flow, fish, phytoplankton, and zooplankton. It can be concluded that the construction of the Longyangxia reservoir contributes greatly to socio-economic benefits, the water area nearby has formed a new ecological environment, and the trophic level of the aquatic environment has probably increased.

Mineralogy and geochemistry of modern Yellow River sediments: Implications for weathering and provenance

2018 ◽  
Vol 488 ◽  
pp. 76-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongli Pang ◽  
Baotian Pan ◽  
Eduardo Garzanti ◽  
Hongshan Gao ◽  
Xin Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Yellow River ◽  
River Sediments ◽  
Yellow River Sediments

Formation and Stablity of the Sky Pond Landslide Dam, China

2011 ◽  
Vol 243-249 ◽  
pp. 3189-3200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Hui Song
Keyword(s):  
Yellow River ◽  
Limit Equilibrium ◽  
Landslide Dam ◽  
Equilibrium Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Assessment ◽  
Hydropower Station ◽  
The Yellow River ◽  
Geological Conditions ◽  
Dammed Lake ◽  
The Stability

The Sky Pond landslide dam is located in Muchang valley, a branch of the Yellow River branches. From this point it is about 6Km to the mouth of the valley from where the Yellow River flows 0.8Km downwards to the planned Jishi gorge hydropower station. The Sky Pond landslide dam is actually formed by two landslides from both the left and right bank slopes and completely blocks the seasonal river channel. The volume of the landslide dam is about 14 millions m3 with 2.37 millions m3 water stored in the dammed lake under the condition of perennial mean water level. Because (1) the dam body is large in width and thickness; (2) the dammed lake water is small both in volume and weight compared to the landslide dam; (3) recharge to the dammed lake is basically the same as the discharge every year; and (4) there is a natural spillway in the dam body, the landslide dam is present at least 750 years after its formation. Although landslide dams which have existed for several hundreds to thousands of years are generally considered as stable, there are remains which may fail catastrophically. In order to analyze the stability of the Sky Pond landslide dam and provide justification for the future engineering decisions, this paper describes the engineering geological conditions near the landslide dam and the characteristics of the dam body, and a detailed discussion of the formation mechanism of the landslide. Based on engineering geology investigation, a qualitative assessment of the stability of the dam and an analysis of the probability of dam overtopping and piping is carried out. Limit equilibrium analysis has been used to calculate the stability of the dam slope under various operational conditions. Results of the stability analyses indicate that the Sky Pond landslide dam should remain stable and does not present a potential theat to the planned hydropower station.

scholarly journals Soil Quality Change after Reclaiming Subsidence Land with Yellow River Sediments

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linghua Duo ◽  
Zhenqi Hu
Keyword(s):  
Crop Yields ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
Underground Mining ◽  
River Sediments ◽  
Sustainable Utilization ◽  
Cultivated Land ◽  
Quality Change ◽  
Weakly Alkaline ◽  
Yellow River Sediments

With continuous population growth and decreasing cultivated land area, China’s food security is greatly threatened. Additionally, coal mining in China is primarily underground mining, which causes land subsidence and destroys existing cultivated land. This effect aggravates the contradiction between a growing population and a shrinking area of cultivated land. The purpose of this study was to introduce a method of filling reclamation with Yellow River sediments to restore farmland and realize the sustainable utilization of cultivated land. The properties of the soil and crop yields in reclaimed farmland were assessed. This study examined farmland reclaimed with Yellow River sediments at an experimental site located in Jining City, Shandong Province, China. Filling reclamation procedures with Yellow River sediments were applied. The reclaimed farmland (RF) and unaltered farmland (CK) were continuously monitored for three years, and the soil was sampled six times. A total of 180 soil samples were collected from RF and CK. The soil properties were measured at three depths: 0–20 cm, 20–50 cm, and 50–80 cm. Crop yields were monitored regularly. The results indicate that filling reclamation with Yellow River sediments is an effective method for restoring farmland. The RF and CK soils were weakly alkaline, non-saline soils. The RF soil was suitable for the growth of local crops. With an increasing number of farming years, both the quality of cultivated land and crop yields have increased. Therefore, filling reclamation with Yellow River sediments is an effective way to realize the sustainable utilization of cultivated land.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document