Under the influence of a climate of extreme drought and the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) operation, the water levels in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in 2006 and 2011 changed significantly compared with those in the extreme drought years of 1978 and 1986. To quantitatively analyze the characteristics of water level variations in 2006 and 2011, a new calculation method was proposed, and the daily water level and discharge from 1955-2016 were collected in this study. The findings are as follows: in 2006 and 2011, the water level in the dry season significantly increased, but that in the flood season obviously decreased compared with the levels in 1978 and 1986. Here, we described this phenomenon as “no low-water-level in dry season, no high-water-level in flood season”. Based on the calculation method, the contributions of climate variability and the Three Gorges Dam operation to water level variations in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River were calculated, and the contributions indicated that climate variability was the main reason for the phenomenon of “no low-water-level in diy season, no high-water-level in flood season” instead of flood peak reduction in the flood season and drought runoff implementation in the dry season, which are both induced by TGD.
To investigate the dispersal pattern and the fate of dredged materials disposed at a pre-selected disposal site, a field tracer experiment was conducted in the North Passage of the Changjiang Estuary during the 2005 flood season. Three tons of dredged materials were mixed with 2.792 kg of sodium hexachloroiridate (IV) hexahydrate (SHH), which contained the rare earth element tracer iridum (Ir). Sampling was conducted at pre-selected sections of the estuary on the second, third and fourth day after the release of dredged materials. All samples were evaluated by use of neutron activation analysis. The majority of the dredged material was dispersed nearly parallel to the navigation channel and deposited between the channel and the south dike. Only a small quantity of dredged materials entered or crossed the navigation channel, and the back silting ratio in the navigation channel was about 5%. The dredged materials also dispersed southeasterly beyond two dike heads.
