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›› 2017, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (5): 1029-1037.

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Hydrological studies of the Holocene palaeoflood in the Taohe River Basin of the upper Yellow River

HU Ying, HUANG Chun-chang, ZHOU Ya-li, PANG Jiang-li, ZHA Xiao-chun, GUO Yong-qiang, SHI Bin-nan   

  1. College of Tourism and Environmental Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710062, China
  • Received:2017-04-28 Revised:2017-07-15 Online:2017-09-25

Abstract: Recent palaeoflood study has been very common in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River region, but few studies in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. In the paper, palaeoflood hydrological studies were carried out in the lower reaches of the Taohe River which is the second largest tributary of the upper reaches of the Yellow River. A set of palaeoflood slackwater deposits of the Holocene period were identified by using sedimentological criteria at the XBC site in Lintao County. They were interbedded in the riverbanks at XBC profile, and they were about 73 cm in thickness. Observation(color, structure and texture)and experiment analysis (magnetic susceptibility, loss-on-ignition and particle-size distribution)of the profile indicate that it recorded three episodes of palaeoflood events. These palaeoflood events were identified to occur in 300-480 a BP in the initial stage of "Ming and Qing Dynasties Little Ice Age", by using the Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL)dating method and checked by some anthropogenic remains. During this period from warm to cold, climate change was more severe. By using the HEC-RAS model, the palaeoflood peak discharges were estimated to be 4 865-6 700 m3·s-1. We selected eleven cross-sections about 700 m along the river reach. At the same time, based on the same hydrological parameters, the roughness coefficient of the channel was tested for sensitivity with a given range of ±25%, the variance of the result is between -9.12% and 6.57%. This paper restores the 2012 flood peak discharge by the HEC-RAS model, and compared with the measured results, the error is only -2.9%. This shows that the reconstruction of the palaeoflood peak discharges by the HEC-RAS model is reliable. The result has important reference value for flood control and disaster reduction, water conservancy construction and water resources development and utilization in the basin. The findings also provide a reliable basis for flood frequency-peak discharge relationship estimation in the upper reaches of the Yellow River in future.

Key words: palaeoflood, flood slackwater deposits, HEC-RAS hydraulic model, Holocene, Taohe River

CLC Number: 

  • P534.63+2