| Abstract: | Along with the rapid development of social economy, development and utilization of water resources in a river basin become more and more intensive, leading to hydrological changes in water runoff and sediment load. Correspondingly, on the river channels also appear some new problems: river channel shrinkage is one of the striking phenomena of fluvial processes. Based on large amounts of field data analysis,the paper sets up a new conceptual model of channel shrinkage. The methodology to determine the dominant discharge of channel formation under shrinkage conditions has been worked out and the relationship of dominant discharge to channel morphology under shrinkage conditions applied. Computation results agree with observed data. Emphasis has been put on the analysis of field data of the lower Yellow River in recent years to explain the channel shrinkage. Finally, a series of integrated countermeasures as a strategy to mitigate the river channel shrinkage is proposed. |
