According to various studies, the ancient Yellow River had three stages of development: the Early Pleistocene from the Tertiary to the Quaternary was the gestation period of the ancient Yellow River. The Middle Pleistocene of the Quaternary Period (1.15 million to 100,000 years ago) was the birth and growth period of the ancient Yellow River. During the Late Pleistocene (100,000 to 10,000 years ago), the Yellow River formed a marine water system.
In the historical period, the river course of the Yellow River in the upper and middle reaches of the plains has also evolved, and some changes have been quite dramatic. For example, the Hetao River section in Inner Mongolia was mainly divided into two branches below Dengkou before 1850. The northern branch was the main stream, and it was called the Ujia River at the foot of Yinshan Mountain. The southern branch is now the Yellow River. In 1850, the lower reaches of the Wuga River north of Xishanzui were silted up and cut off for about 15 kilometers. The southern branch became the mainstream, and the northern branch became the retreat canal of the Houtao Irrigation Area.
The Longmen~Tongguan river also swings greatly. However, the evolution of these river sections has little impact on the development of the entire Yellow River. The course changes of the Yellow River mainly occur in the lower reaches.
Historically, the range of changes in the lower reaches of the Yellow River ranged from Haihe River in the north to Jianghuai River in the south. According to historical documents, there have been more than 1,500 breaches and flooding in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and there have been more than 20 major diversions.
Extended information
The Yellow River Irrigation District in Inner Mongolia is one of the famous large irrigation districts in China. Its scope starts from the eastern edge of the Ulan Buh Desert in the west to the eastern suburbs of Hohhot City in the east. It is bounded by Langshan Mountain, Wula Mountain, and Daqing Mountain in the north. It leans on the Ordos Platform in the south, including the Hetao, Tumo River, and the irrigation area on the south bank of the Yellow River. It spans 19 banners (counties and districts) in Yikezhao League, Bayannaoer League and the three cities of Hohhot, Baotou and Wuhai.
The total land area is 28.91 million acres, with 18.78 million acres of cultivated land and 9.36 million acres of irrigated land. The agricultural population is 2.01 million, and the per capita cultivated land is 9.3 acres, including 4.7 acres of watered land.
Ningxia Yellow River Diversion Irrigation District is one of the four ancient irrigation districts in my country, with an irrigation history of more than 2,000 years. Known as the "fortress of Jiangnan", it is the main grain, cotton and oil production area in Ningxia and one of the 12 commercial grain bases in the country.
The irrigation area involves Qingtongxia City, Yongning County, Yinchuan City, Helan County, Pingluo County, Taole County, Huinong County, Shizuishan City and Zhongwei County, Zhongning County, Wuzhong City, Lingwu City, etc. The Yellow River diversion irrigation part in 4 counties (cities) includes 12 counties (cities) and more than 20 state-owned agriculture, forestry and pasture lands.
The Fenhe Irrigation District is located in the Taiyuan Basin in central Shanxi Province. The area is distributed on both sides of the Fenhe River. It starts from Shanglan Village in the northern suburbs of Taiyuan City in the north and Hongxiang Village in Jiexiu County in the central Shanxi Province in the south. It is about 140km long. , about 20km wide from east to west, bounded by Taiyuan (Taiyuan) Fen (Fenyang) Highway and Ciyao River in the west, and Taiyuan (Taiyuan) San (Sanmenxia) Highway and South Tongpu Railway in the east.
The irrigation area spans the three cities of Taiyuan, Jinzhong and Luliang, 12 counties (cities, districts) and 488 villages in 56 beneficiary townships (towns). The entire irrigation area controls a land area of ??2.0555 million acres. Among them, the cultivated land area is 1.5684 million acres. The designed irrigation area is 1.4955 million acres, and the benefited area accounts for nearly one-tenth of the province's water land area. It is one of the largest artesian irrigation areas in Shanxi Province.
Reference materials
The Yellow River (the second longest river in China)_Baidu Encyclopedia?