Fluvial Characteristics of Sediment-Laden Flow in the Lower Yellow River, China

Based on the daily discharge and sediment concentration recorded at eight hydrology stations in the Xiaolangdi-Lijin reaches of the Lower Yellow River from 1950 to 2003, the relationship between water discharge and suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) was analyzed. The relationship between SSC and discharge was fitted by the sediment rating curves of third-order polynomial regression. The maximum SSC of years after 1968 is larger than that of years before 1968 at XLD and SK-LJ reach, and the corresponding discharge with maximum SSC decreases at these five stations. Besides, the SSC of XLD, SK, AS, LK and LJ stations will decrease after reaching its maximum concentration at a certain discharge. Sediment rating curve at XLD displays a downward trend of SSC for the same water discharge from the first to the second periods. Moreover, H-G reach is sensitive to flow rate, sediment concentration and particle size.