PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ma, Hongbo
AU  - Nittrouer, Jeffrey A.
AU  - Naito, Kensuke
AU  - Fu, Xudong
AU  - Zhang, Yuanfeng
AU  - Moodie, Andrew J.
AU  - Wang, Yuanjian
AU  - Wu, Baosheng
AU  - Parker, Gary
TI  - The exceptional sediment load of fine-grained dispersal systems: Example of the Yellow River, China
AID  - 10.1126/sciadv.1603114
DP  - 2017 May 01
TA  - Science Advances
PG  - e1603114
VI  - 3
IP  - 5
4099  - http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/5/e1603114.short
4100  - http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/5/e1603114.full
SO  - Sci Adv2017 May 01; 3
AB  - Sedimentary dispersal systems with fine-grained beds are common, yet the physics of sediment movement within them remains poorly constrained. We analyze sediment transport data for the best-documented, fine-grained river worldwide, the Huanghe (Yellow River) of China, where sediment flux is underpredicted by an order of magnitude according to well-accepted sediment transport relations. Our theoretical framework, bolstered by field observations, demonstrates that the Huanghe tends toward upper-stage plane bed, yielding minimal form drag, thus markedly enhancing sediment transport efficiency. We present a sediment transport formulation applicable to all river systems with silt to coarse-sand beds. This formulation demonstrates a remarkably sensitive dependence on grain size within a certain narrow range and therefore has special relevance to silt-sand fluvial systems, particularly those affected by dams.