Geomorphologic characteristics and origin of the valley bottom troughs at the site of Three Gorges Dam

This paper describes valley bottom troughs of the Changjiang River and infers the geomorphologic development of troughs. Based on the morphology of the troughs, the following conclusions are drawn. (1) The deep troughs on the Three Gorges valley bottom are formed by river downcutting along the structural zones on the background of regional tectonic uplift at about 40-30 ka BP. (2) When river downcutting occurred in the river bed of Changjiang, the jets current (particularly eddy current) with a large number of pebbles ground and eroded the valley bottom, resulting in trough formation and deepening. Meanwhile, water currents with gravels and pebbles eroded the bank and the left wall of No.76 trough as well as the right wall of No.77 trough by striking, scouring, horizontal and vertical grinding. (3) The depth of the trough is mainly determined by the intensity of the water current and the consistency of bedrock against erosion, and is not controlled by the altitude of the sea level as the base level of erosion.