Mineral composition and distribution of the sediment in the Yellow River basin

Abstract

Hyperconcentration flows often occur in the Yellow River and its tributaries.The properties of hyperconcentrated flows are affected by the mineral composition and size distribution of the sediment.A research is performed by field investigation and sampling at 12 sites along the Yellow River and its tributaries on the Loess Plateau.The content of clay mineral affects the rheological property more than the grain size.The interaction of clay particles and cations also has an important influence on the rheological property of hyperconcentration flow.The mineral composition and size distribution of the samples are analyzed.It is concluded that the sediments in the Yellow River and its tributaries have the same origin and the secondary clay minerals have been formed under the long and identical conditions.For the Yellow River basin the contents of clay and non-clay minerals have linear relations with the median diameter.Thus,the content of clay minerals may be estimated from the size distribution,which is much more convenient and cheaper than mineral analysis.