the yantze river and its dynamics. dujianyan hydrodam project, constructed in 256 b.c

The Yantze River and Its DynamicsThe Yantze River and Its Dynamics

Dujianyan Hydrodam Dujianyan Hydrodam Project, constructed in 256 Project, constructed in 256 B.C.B.C.

Our Delegation (9/24/00 – 10/8/00)

Land area: 9,326,411 km2

Total area: 9,596,960 km2

Population (2008 est.): 1.330 billion

• growth rate: 0.6%• birth rate: 13.7/1000• density per mi2: 142

GeographyGeographyThe greater part of the country is mountainous. Its principal ranges are the Tian Shan, the Kunlun chain, and the Trans-Himalaya. The Gobi Desert lies to the north. China proper consists of three great river systems: the Yellow River (Huang He, 5464 km); the Yangtze River (Chang JiangChang Jiang, 6300 km), and the Pearl River (Zhu JiangZhu Jiang, 2,197 km).

HistoryHistoryThe earliest recorded human settlements were discovered in the Huang He basin and date from about 5000 B.C. During the Shang dynasty (1500–1000 B.C.), the precursor of modern China's ideographic writing system developed. It was following this initial flourishing of civilization, in a period known as the Chou dynasty (1122–249 B.C.), that Lao Zi, Confucius, Mo Zi, and Mencius laid the foundation of Chinese philosophical thought.

The Topo Relief Map of ChinaThe Topo Relief Map of China

ChengduChengdu

Yangtze River

0

20°N

30°N

40°N

50°N

70°E

500

miles

80°E

1,000

90°E 100°E 110°E 120°E 130°E 140°E

Chongqing

YichangTGD Shanghai

Lanzhou

Changsha

BEIJING

Changchung

Fuzhou

Guangzhou

Guiyang

Haikou

Harbin

Hohhot

Jinan

Lhasa

Shenyang

Urumqi

Xian Zhengzhou

Yinchuan Shijiazhuang

Kunming

Population DistributionPopulation Distribution

Desert DistributionDesert Distribution

Source: IIASA, Laxenburg (ISBN 3-3045-0144

Science & TechnologyScience & Technology

Source: Data-sharing Network of Earth System Science

Natural resource indexNatural resource index

Human Development IndexHuman Development IndexEconomic IndexEconomic Index

Three Gorges Dam ModelThree Gorges Dam Model

Beijing

ShanghaiWuhan

Taibei

Shenyang

Xi'an

360 km

ChongqingTGD

Harbin

Lhasa

Urumqi

Yangtze River

Yellow Rive

r

N

EW

S

About the Yangtze RiverAbout the Yangtze River

•The 3rd longest river (< Nile & Amazon)

•Long history of land use and culture

•145,000 killed and 1.8 million houses destroyed in 1931

•30,000 killed in 1954 flooding

•1,562 killed in 1998 (200 billion RMB loss= $24 billion)

•“The Best National Park in US” (Dr. Merhloff)

•A hanging river (>18 m above the ground)

Yellow River

Yangtze River

0

kilometers

200 400

Shanghai

Changsha

YichangThree Gorges Dam

Chongqing

Chengdu

Fuzhou

Guiyang

Hangzhou

Hefei

Jinan

Lanzhou

Nanchang

Nanjing

Taiyuan

Xian

Zhengzhou

YinchuanShijiazhuang

About the Three Gorges Dam (TGD)

•The largest (185 m tall wall, 175 m deep, & 1983 m wide)

•To be completed between 1992 and 2009

•Raise water for 600 km upstream

•28,000 km2 land to be flooded, including 13 cities, 140 towns, >1300 villages, and 115,000 acres of arable land

•1.1-1.4 million (official) or 2 million (unofficial) people to be resettled, with about $4,000 per person

•530 million M tons of sediment per year

0 100

kilometers

200

YichangThree Gorges Dam

Chongqing

Changsha

Anhua

Anxiang

Anyue

Badong

Baisha

Baojing

Beibei

Cangxi

Cha-tung

Chengkou

Chenxi

Chi-shou

Chiang-kou

Chiang-tu-kung

Cili

Da Xian

Dayong

Dazhu

Dazu

Enshi

Fenghuang

Fengjie

Gongan

Guangan

Guanghua

Guangshunchang

HechuanHefeng

Hejiang

Huarong

Jiangjin

Jiangkou

Jiangkou

Jianli

Jianshi

Jingmen

Jinhe

Jun Xian

Kai Xian

Laifeng

Langzhong

Li Xian

Liangping

Lianyuan

Lichuan

Lingjiangzhen

Luxi

Luyang

Luzhou

Mao-tzu-fan

Meichengzhen

Nanbu

Nanchong

Nanping

Nanzhany

Naxi

Ningxiang

Pengshui

Qianjiang

Qianjiang

Sangzhi

Shehong

Shimen

Shizhu

Songzi

Ssu-han

Suining

Taojiang

Taoyuan

Wan Xian

Wufeng

Wushan

Xianen

Xianfeng

Xiangtan

Xiangxiang

Xingshan

Xinhua

Yanhe

Yanting

Yidu

Youyang

Yuanan

Yuanjiang

Yuanling

Yunshun

Yunyang

Zhangshow

Zhenping

Zhong Xian

Zhongxiang

Zunyi

TongjiangBazhong

Hekou

Pu-kuang-ssu

Ta-pao Wu-hsiBaizi

Yongxing Pu-an-chang

RenshizhenQu Xian

Ching-ti-tu Miao-wan

Shih-tzuAnju Linshui

WuFeng-hoTongnan Pai-chang-tang

ZiyangShangliangGuangyaun Sanyuanba

GanchangMaobaguan ShuipingChang-ping

BaishuiChih-hsi-chang Tu-chuan-kou

Hsiung-chia-chi

Shih-pu-saHuji Changshoudian

Lo-chia-ya

Lung-ping

Hua-chiao

Guandiangou

Wantan

Shiyen Sha-yenCaodian Goulin

Shang-li-chiaGucheng

ZhushanZijin Taipingdian

Fang Xian

ShiyangchangFengdu

Fou-ling

Li-chia-toPai-ma

Hsin-chaiPan-chiu-hanNanchuan

Qijiang

Daozhen

Dongsheng

SongtaoMu-huangLo-pa-ti Deyaoguan

FenggangSuiyang

Sha-hung-aoChishuihe

Chiu-li-po

Linli

Changde

Lung-yang-tien

Chaanpu

Yu-chung-li Qiaojiaone

DizhangLongtian

Pai-li-tang

The Purposes of TGD

•Flood control (3/4 of Chinese population farmed by the dry area)

•Hydroelectric power (demand for electricity double every 9-12 years. Coal burning vs air pollution

•Navigation along the river. The river carries 78% of the country’s riverborne freight.

City of New Zibei – Developed for Dam OperationCity of New Zibei – Developed for Dam Operation

The Three Gorges UniversityThe Three Gorges University

Construction of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD)Construction of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD)

A marvel of engineering, the Three Gorges A marvel of engineering, the Three Gorges Dam will start operating at full capacity later Dam will start operating at full capacity later this year. Already under way is an epic this year. Already under way is an epic experiment on how a dam impacts the experiment on how a dam impacts the environment. environment. -- Stone 2008-- Stone 2008

City of New Zibei – Build for Dam OperationCity of New Zibei – Build for Dam Operation

The SCB Delegation The SCB Delegation

The Historical and Cultural CenterThe Historical and Cultural Center

One of the Three GorgesOne of the Three Gorges

The Three GorgesThe Three Gorges

The Modern ChinaThe Modern China

Beijing

Shanghai

Wuhan

Taibei

Shenyang

Xi'an

3

10

2

1

47

5

9

8

6

11

360 km

Terrestrial Zones

Wetlands & freshwater Zones

People's Republic of China

ChongqingThe Three Gorge Dam

Harbin

C

B

A

Lasa

Wulumuqi

Yangtze

River

Yangtze River

Yellow R

iver

Effects on Biological Diversity:

Aquatic Ecosystem

•At least 320 phytoplankton

•210 aquatic vascular plants

•200 benthos

•370 fish

•2 aquatic mammals

Endangered Species

•Baiji – river dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer)

•Endemic to China

•400 in 80s

•100 in 90s

•Disappeared from the lakes or branches of the Yangtze

Internationally critical (IUCN 2000)

Chinese sturgeon (Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensisAcipenser sinensis))

Effects on Biological Diversity: Terrestrial Ecosystem

Home for metasequoia and Ginkgo (living fossils)

•190 families, 1012 genera, 3014 plant species

•47 nationally & 37 are endemic to the basin

•Within the 53,2000 km2 basin (0.55% of China’s territory), it contains 10.28% of vascular plants.

To meet the increasing demands for lands and agriculture, policymakers have attempted to enlarge the islands by diking coastal areas and introducing Spartina alterniflora – a grass native to tidal salt marshes of the southeastern United States but exotic to China. Spartina is one of the 16 greatest invasivespecies listed by the State Environmental Protection Administration of China. Successful plantations and rapid spread of this species have increased production and fertility of the coast, but at the cost of native ecosystems. -- Chen et al. 2008

Shanghai

JiangsuChongming

Pacific Ocean

Yangtze

Jiuduansha

1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 20010

4

8

12

16

0

2

4

6

8

Waterflow Sediment Flux

Water Flow (1011 m3 year-1) Sediment Flux (108 ton year-1)

Year

The growing islands (The growing islands (e.g.e.g., , Chongming, Jiuduansha) are Chongming, Jiuduansha) are maintained by the massive maintained by the massive sediments (Landtsat Image in sediments (Landtsat Image in 2003) transported from the 2003) transported from the Yangtze RiverYangtze River

0751

1617

1863

1989

1111

1736

1948

2003

Shanghai

Jiangsu

Chongming

Yangtze RiverPacificOcean

Formation and change Formation and change of islands from 751 A.D. of islands from 751 A.D. through 2003 A.D. An through 2003 A.D. An accelerated rate started accelerated rate started after the formation of after the formation of the P.R. China in 1949. the P.R. China in 1949.

(a) Spartina plantation (b) Mosaics of Spartina invasion

(c) Spartina domination (d) Natural gradients

Introduction of Introduction of SpartinaSpartina into the estuary islands in the Yangtze into the estuary islands in the Yangtze River began with plantations on the mudflatsRiver began with plantations on the mudflats

the yantze river and its dynamics. dujianyan hydrodam project, constructed in 256 b.c

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