Knowra Yangtze Delta Yangtze Delta A low-lying alluvial region in eastern China formed where the Yangtze River reaches the East China Sea. It contains extensive waterways, wetlands, and densely settled urban areas.
Yangtze River : The longest river in Asia, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau across China to the East China Sea. Its lower course supplies the water and sediment that built the delta.
Yangtze River Delta sediment plume : A cloud of river-borne sediment that spreads offshore from the Yangtze mouth. Its distribution reveals how river discharge and coastal circulation move material beyond the shoreline.
Yangtze River Economic Belt : A Chinese development region organized around the Yangtze River and its connected cities and provinces. The delta anchors the river belt’s downstream economy and concentration of population.
Wetland : Land saturated or inundated with water long enough to support water-adapted soils and vegetation. Wetlands in the delta provide habitat, store floodwater, and buffer the coast.
Yangtze River Delta formation : The geological development of the Yangtze’s coastal depositional region through sediment accumulation and shoreline change. Its formation explains the delta’s shifting coast, islands, and branching waterways.
Alluvial plain : A broad, flat landscape formed by sediment deposited by rivers. The delta is the coastal continuation of the Yangtze’s extensive depositional plain.
Three Gorges Dam : A large hydroelectric dam on the Yangtze River in Hubei, China. It traps sediment upstream, contributing to reduced sediment delivery to the lower river and coast.
Shanghai : A major Chinese municipality and port city at the mouth of the Yangtze River. Shanghai occupies the delta’s eastern edge and depends on its waterways and coastal infrastructure.
Chinese white dolphin : A coastal dolphin species found in parts of the western Pacific, including waters near the Yangtze mouth. Its local habitat is affected by shipping, pollution, and changes to estuarine waters.
Holocene : The current geological epoch, beginning about 11,700 years ago after the last glacial period. Much of the modern delta took shape as postglacial sea levels rose and sediment accumulated.
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