He, Zheng et al., 2015:

 

• No straight-forward trend exist of higher degree of chemical weathering downstream.

• Major and trace element chemistry serve as a proxy for both the source of the sediment and its degree of alteration.

• Nd isotope data implies that the main sources of sediment in the river are from the middle and lower parts of the Yangtze Craton.

 

Yang et al., 2009:

 

• On the one hand, tectonic activity in the upper drainage basin exposing the wide-ranging source rocks to weathering and, on the other hand, strong chemical weathering and sediment recycling in the middle-lower reaches, account for differences in heavy minerals concentrations along the river course.

• Felsic plutonic and volcanic, and/or metamorphic parent rocks provide most of the detrital magnetite grains.