Temporal and spatial variability of sediment flux into the sea from the three largest rivers in China

The Yellow, Yangtze and Pearl Rivers supply over 90% of the sediment flux from China to the western Pacific Ocean. Trends and abrupt changes in the water discharge and sediment load of the three rivers were examined and compared based on data updated to the year 2011 at the seasonal and annual scales. The total water discharge from the three rivers shows a statistically insignificant decreasing trend with a rate of 0.62 × 109 m3/a, and the total sediment load shows a statistically significant decreasing trend at a rate of 31.12 × 106 t/a from the 1950s to 2011. The water discharge of the entire Yellow River and the upstream portion of the Yangtze River shows significant decreasing trends, and that of the mid-lower stream of Yangtze River and the entire Pearl River shows insignificant trends. The sediment loads in the three river basins all show significant decreasing trends at the annual and seasonal scales, and a dramatic decrease in the 2000s resulted in a more obvious decreasing trend over the studied period. From the 1950s to the 2000s, the contribution of sediment flux from the Yellow River to the ocean decreased from 71.8% to 37.0%, and the contributions of the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers increased from 24.2% and 4.0% to 53.0% and 10.0%, respectively. Inter-annual variations in water discharge and sediment load were affected by climate oscillations, such as the El Niño/Southern Oscillation, and the long-term decreasing trend in sediment load was primarily caused by human activities. Dam constructions and soil conservation projects were the major causes of sediment reduction. From the 1970s to the 2000s, the decrease in total sediment load from the three rivers caused by climate change and human activities was 2.24 × 108 t/a (23.0%) and 7.5 × 108 t/a (77.0%), respectively. In the coming decades, the sediment flux from the three rivers into the sea will decrease further with intensifying human activities, resulting in many challenges for the management of river basins and river deltas.