The Yellow River (Huanghe) is a major sediment source of sediment to the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea, resulting in the formation of a large and dynamic delta complex. However, the river sediment discharge reaching the delta has decreased dramatically since the middle 1960s. This study examines the sediment accumulation and morphological changes of the delta complex during 1959–2012 using a repeated bathymetry dataset, high-resolution seismic profiles, and sediment cores obtained in 2012 and 2013. Sediment accumulation rates were determined using the downcore concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb. The average accumulation rates calculated for the delta complex range from 6.9–24 cm y⁻¹ on the delta front slope, 1–2 cm y⁻¹ at the toe of the slope, and < 1 cm y⁻¹ in the northeastern shelf area. Morphological changes and sediment accumulation rates show that 1) the Yellow River delta has entered a destruction phase after 1996, 2) the amount of erosion of the whole delta reaches 210 MT y⁻¹ of sediment, which is at least required to maintain the whole delta morphology, 3) three-quarters (487 MT y⁻¹) of the Yellow River-derived sediment was deposited in the subaerial and subaqueous delta during 1959–2012, and 4) Whereas, one-quarter (144 MT y⁻¹) was transported to the Bohai Sea, and as much as one fifth (117 MT y⁻¹) was transported further offshore to the Yellow Sea, passing through the Bohai Sea during this period. The source of these sediments is a combination of the Yellow River sediment discharge and the erosion of the previous Yellow River delta lobes. Despite the sharp decline in the Yellow River sediment discharge over the past five decades, the offshore dispersal of the river discharge and eroded sediment to the Yellow Sea was more than 100 MT y⁻¹ on average. Results of this study show that the erosion of the abandoned delta lobes can sustain the supply of sediment to remote offshore depocenters even after decades of declining river sediment discharge.

黄河（黄河）是通往渤海和黄海的主要沉积物，导致形成了一个大型的动态三角洲综合体。但是，自1960年代中期以来，到达三角洲的河流泥沙排放量已大大减少。这项研究使用重复的测深数据集，高分辨率地震剖面和2012年和2013年获得的沉积物核查了1959-2012年期间三角洲复合体的沉积物沉积和形态变化。使用¹³⁷ Cs的下层浓度确定了沉积物的沉积速率和²¹⁰ Pb。对于增量复杂计算范围从6.9-24厘米y中的平均累积速率^-1上三角洲前缘斜坡，1-2厘米ÿ ^-1在斜坡的脚趾处，在东北陆架区<1 cm y ^-1。形态变化和沉积物沉积速率表明：1）黄河三角洲在1996年后进入破坏阶段，2）整个三角洲的侵蚀量达到了210 MT y ^-1沉积物，这至少是维持整个沉积所需的。三角洲形态，3）1959年至2012年期间，黄河三角洲和水下三角洲沉积了四分之三（487 MT y ^-1）沉积物，以及4）约四分之一（144 MT y ^-1）被运送到渤海，多达五分之一（117 MT y ^-1）在此期间通过渤海进一步运输到黄海。这些沉积物的来源是黄河沉积物排放与先前黄河三角洲裂片的侵蚀的结合。尽管在过去的十年中黄河沉积物排放量急剧下降，但黄河排放物和侵蚀性沉积物向黄海的离岸扩散平均仍超过100 MT y ^-1。这项研究的结果表明，即使经过几十年的河流沉积物排放量下降，废弃三角洲的侵蚀仍可维持向偏远的离岸沉积中心的沉积物供应。