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How much sediment does the Yellow River carry each year?
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Yellow River
The Yellow River (Huang He) basin and the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) basin and their drainage networks.
The Yellow River carries approximately 1.52 billion tons of silt to the sea each year when unimpeded.1
This massive sediment load, which consists largely of loess, gives the river the highest concentration of sediment of any river in the world. On average, the water contains about 34 kilograms of silt per cubic meter, though floodwaters can contain significantly higher concentrations. Several factors contribute to this high volume, including the steepness of the river's slopes, the speed of its current, and the lack of forested areas to prevent erosion.1