Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Human And Natural Controls On Erosion In The Lower Jinsha River, China, Amanda H. Schmidt, Alison R. Denn, Alan J. Hidy, Paul R. Bierman, Ya Tang

College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications

The lower Jinsha River has the highest sediment yield rates of the entire Yangtze watershed; these high yields have previously been attributed to a mix of the local geologic setting as well as intensive human land use, particularly agriculture. Prior studies have not quantified long-term background rates of sediment generation, making it difficult to know if modern sediment yield is elevated relative to the long-term rate of sediment generation. Using in situ 10Be in detrital river sediments, we measured sediment generation rates for tributaries to the lower Jinsha River. We find that the ratio of modern sediment yield to long-term …