Changes in morphology of the Yellow River delta from 1979 to 2000

I was looking at the always-awesome Earth Observatory website from NASA and came across an interesting comparison of images of a river delta over time.

The first image below is the Huange He delta in 2000.

Yellow River (Huange He) delta, May 2000 (credit: earthobservatory.nasa.gov)

The comparison image below is from 1979.

Yellow River (Huange He) delta, May 1979 (credit: earthobservatory.nasa.gov)

Here’s the blurb from the EarthObservatory site:

Compared to the earlier image, the 2000 shot shows an increase in developed land and a slight decrease in vegetation. The most striking difference between the two images, however, is the shape of the coastline. A steady supply of sediment expanded the Yellow River delta until it pushed into Bo Hai like a giant hook. Sediment colored the coastal waters bright blue. This delta-building process has added several hundred square kilometers of land to China’s coast.

I wonder if the change from a “smoother” coastline to the more “birdsfoot” river-dominated morphology has mostly to do with the land use changes? That is, a more restricted river course would preclude frequent avulsions and construction of the distributive dispersal pattern. A more restricted river course would result in more spatially focused growth. I don’t know … just thinking out loud.

In case you are wondering where this delta is along the China coast, here is a regional GoogleEarth image.

credit: GoogleEarth

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There’s a similar comparison from the same time periods of aquaculture development along the shores of Bo Hai Bay

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