Recent changes of sediment flux to the western Pacific Ocean from major rivers in East and Southeast Asia

The five largest rivers in East and Southeast Asia (Yellow, Yangtze, Pearl, Red and Mekong) are important contributors of terrigenous sediment to the western Pacific Ocean. Although they have annually delivered ~ 2000 × 109 kg of sediment to the ocean since 1000 yr BP, they presently contribute only ~ 600 × 109 kg/yr, which is reverting to a level typical of the relatively undisturbed watersheds before the rise in human activities in East and Southeast Asia at 2000 yr BP. During the most recent decades flow regulation by dams and sediment entrapment by reservoirs, as well as human-influenced soil erosion in the river basins, have sharply reduced the sediment delivered from the large river basins to the ocean. We constructed a time series of data on annual water discharges and sediment fluxes from these large rivers to the western Pacific Ocean covering the period 1950–2008. These data indicate that the short-term (interannual scale) variation of sediment flux is dominated by natural climatic oscillations such as the El Niño/La Niña cycle and that anthropogenic causes involving dams and land use control the long-term (decadal scale) decrease in sediment flux to the ocean. In contrast to the relatively slow historical increase in sediment flux during the period 2000–1000 yr BP, the recent sediment flux has been decreased at an accelerating rate over centennial scales. The alterations of these large river systems by both natural and anthropogenic forcing present severe environmental challenges in the coastal ocean, including the sinking of deltas and declines in coastal wetland areas due to the decreasing sediment supply. Our work thus provides a regional perspective on the large river-derived sediment flux to the ocean over millennial and decadal scales, which will be important for understanding and managing the present and future trends of delivery of terrigenous sediment to the ocean in the context of global change.

► We reviewed the sediment flux from major Asian rivers to the western Pacific Ocean over millennial and centennial scales. ► Both the millennial increase in sediment flux and the centennial decrease are primarily dominated by human interventions. ► Interannual variation of sediment flux is dominated by natural climatic oscillations. ► Anthropogenic causes involving dams and land use control the decadal decrease in sediment flux to the ocean. ► The natural and anthropogenic alteration of large river systems present severe environmental challenges in the coastal ocean.