GPR Investigation of Sedimentary Deposits Induced by River Engineering in the Middle Yangtze River

Summary We take the Tianxingzhou island as a case to examine sedimentary deposits induced by river engineering to improve understanding in highly engineered large rivers. We first provide geomorphological characteristics of occurring sedimentary deposits and aim to evaluate the potential of GPR for studying these environments. We characterized the occurrence, morphology, and internal sedimentary architecture of river training work-induced sedimentary deposits common on islands of the Middle Yangtze River. Three main geomorphological patterns were identified and described in different closed hydraulic fields. Based in the interpretation of GPR data we estimate the thickness of the deposits after the construction of hydraulic structures (between ∼0.2m to ∼3m) and provided details of the internal structures of the dominant morphological patterns. Our study demonstrated the efficacy of integrating GPR and geomorphological analysis to improve the understanding of the sedimentation and erosion processes in river training work on large rivers.