Yunnan University team publishes paper on hydrology of Jinghe River

A research team led by Chen Feng from the Institute of International Rivers and Eco-Security of Yunnan University recently conducted a study on the historical hydrological changes of the Jinghe River in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, together with their peers from the CONICET in Argentina.

Its research paper titled Reconstructed Jing River streamflow from western China: a 399-year perspective for hydrological changes in the Loess Plateau was published in the Netherlands' Journal of Hydrology.

The Jinghe River Basin is located in an ecologically fragile area of the Loess Plateau, and its ecology and environment has been seriously impacted by human activities and global warming.

Chen's team reconstructed the flow patterns of the Jinghe River since 1615. Over the past four centuries, it has experienced seven periods of high flows and 10 periods of low flows.

Different climatic scenarios revealed the continued reduction of the Jinghe River's discharge and the likely deterioration of water resources in the future. The reconstruction of the river's flow will serve as an important scientific basis for studying the relationship between water resources and climatic change in the middle reaches of the Yellow River.

Yunnan University is the paper's first author unit, with Chen as the corresponding author. The research work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.