Loess Plateau

A highland region in north-central China covered by thick windblown silt. Its easily eroded soils form dense networks of gullies and ravines.

Loess: A loose, fine-grained sediment deposited mainly by wind, often forming fertile, steep-sided deposits. Thick loess deposits create the plateau’s distinctive soil mantle and erodible terrain.
Grain for Green Program: A Chinese ecological restoration program that pays households to convert sloping cropland into forest or grassland. It targeted erosion-prone farmland across the plateau with vegetation restoration.
Yellow River sedimentation: The accumulation of suspended and deposited sediment within the Yellow River and its channels. Loess erosion supplies much of the sediment that complicates river management downstream.
Yangjuangou watershed: A small watershed in the Loess Plateau studied for land-use change, runoff, and soil erosion. Its research record illustrates how changing vegetation and farming affect watershed processes.
Yellow River: A major river of northern China that carries large sediment loads and flows into the Bohai Sea. Eroded plateau sediment gives the river its characteristic high sediment burden.
Loess Plateau Watershed Rehabilitation Project: A World Bank-supported program that rehabilitated watersheds and improved land management in the Loess Plateau region. The project combined erosion control, land-use changes, and rural livelihood improvements.
Yellow River Conservancy Commission: A Chinese government agency responsible for managing water resources and flood control in the Yellow River basin. Its basin-wide work addresses sediment and flood risks linked to plateau erosion.
Ansai County: A county in Shaanxi Province, within the central Loess Plateau region. Its landscapes and restoration programs provide a regional example of plateau land management.
Gully erosion: The formation and enlargement of channels cut into soil by concentrated running water. Rainwater carves the plateau’s dense gullies into its deep, weakly consolidated loess.
Soil conservation: Practices and policies that prevent soil erosion and preserve soil productivity. The plateau is a prominent setting for large-scale soil conservation measures.

Linked from 21 pages