Yellow River sediment sinks exhibit divergent decadal responses to anthropogenic and climatic forcing

Large river sediment sinks face profound reconfiguration under anthropogenic and climatic pressures. Using machine-learning-reconstructed daily suspended sediment concentration (SSC) records, we reveal a distinct divergence in decadal trends across the Yellow River sink system: proximal sinks show an ~18% mean decline in SSC, whereas distal sinks show a ~ 23% enrichment. This contrast emerges from two competing processes: anthropogenic sediment reduction and intensified winter-storm forcing that amplifies distal resuspension and lateral transport. Proximal depletion is driven by anthropogenic forcing, including an ~83% fluvial sediment reduction since the 1980s, a ~ 69% coastline solidification since the 1980s, and a ~ 30% seabed grain-size increase since the 1990s, which raise entrainment thresholds and inhibit resuspension. Conversely, distal sinks retain highly erodible sediments activated by more frequent winter storms and shortened inter-event durations. These findings highlight a critical Anthropocene regime shift: natural, fluvial-dominated source-to-sink continuums becoming systems governed by the asymmetric interplay of human engineering and climatic extremes. The Yellow River sink system shows contrasting decadal trends from anthropogenic sediment reduction and intensified winter-storm forcing, with proximal sinks declining 18% and distal sinks enriching 23%, based on reconstructed daily suspended sediment concentration.