The Yangtze, also referred to as Changjiang, is the largest river in Eastern Asia and one of the World's longest rivers, with 49 tributaries. Along its margin lives around 36.9% of China's population (Zhao et al., 2013).

 

The average water and sediment discharges are 900 x 10 and 480 x 10  ton/yr (Yang et al., 2009), respectively. Its drainage basin is over 6300 km long and has an area of ca. 1.8 x 10 km (Zhang, 2015). Landscapes with variable climatic and tectonic settings are present along its course.

 

From a geological point of view, the basin is situated in the Yangtze Craton. Archean metamorphic rocks, Paleozoic carbonate and sedimentary rocks, Mesozoic-Cenozoic igneous and clastic rocks and Quaternary detrital sediments constitute the Yangtze River Basin main source rock types.

 

The Three Gorges Dam, the largest dam in the World and operating since 2003, has substantially influenced the river's sediment discharge.