Jishi Gorge outburst flood

Last updated

The Jishi Gorge outburst flood was a natural disaster that occurred around 1920 BC in China. The water flow during the eruption was one of the largest fresh water flows to occur in our geologic epoch (Holocene) and caused large widespread flooding around the Yellow River, affecting everyone living in the river basin. The flood outbreak was triggered by the bursting of a dam caused by landslides after an earthquake. The flood is suggested [ by whom? ] to possibly be the disaster that gave rise to the Gun-Yu flood myth,[ citation needed ] which preceded the establishment of the Xia dynasty. The Lajia archaeological site, downstream of the Jishi Gorge, was first destroyed by the earthquake and later covered by sediments from the flood eruption. [1]

Contents

The course

The Jishi Gorge (积石峡) leads the Yellow River from the river area around Xunhua in the west through the Jishi Mountain and further east to the river area around the Guanting Basin. An earthquake triggered landslides and rock avalanches that dammed the Yellow River in Jishi Gorge west of Mengda County (孟达乡), in Xunhua County, eastern Qinghai Province, near the border of Gansu Province about 100 kilometre west of Lanzhou. The dam after the earthquake extended 1,300 meters in the direction of the river's flow and its highest level was 240 meters above today's water level. Upstream at Xunhua, a dammed lake filled after the river was blocked at the Jishi Gorge dam. [1]

After less than a year, probably after about six to nine months, the water level approached the top of the dam. In the end, the dam could not withstand the large water masses, and the flood outbreak was triggered when the dam broke. The dammed river basin at Guanting is estimated to have had a level approximately up to 160 [2] or 200 meters [1] above today's water level at the time of the eruption. When the dam broke, the water level in the dammed lake dropped more than 100 meters and released 12 to 16 cubic kilometers of water. Calculations based on both the volume of water and its head in the impoundment area at Xunhua, and also reconstructed cross-sections of the floodplain at Guanting estimate the peak flow at the outlet to be approximately 480,000 cubic meters per second, which is more than 500 times the current flow of the Yellow River at the Jishi Gorge. This is one of the largest known fresh water flows to have occurred during the Holocene. [1]

Effects of the flood

The flood breached the Yellow River's natural levees and caused widespread flooding, which also potentially changed the course of the Yellow River and had a major impact on all communities along the Yellow River's reach. After the primary flood, prolonged secondary floods likely occurred. The flood may have affected 2,000 kilometers downstream of the Yellow River. [1]

Flood sediments downstream of the dam are found at levels 7 to 50 meters above the present water level. The sediments consist exclusively of angular clasts of greenschist and purple-brown mudrock sourced from Jishi Gorge. At the outlet of the gorge, the sediment layer is 20 meters thick and contains stones up to two meters in diameter. [1]

Finds at the archaeological site of Lajia located 25 kilometers downstream from the dam show the devastation following the earthquake and then the flood, which together completely destroyed the settlement. [3] The site was covered by up to 38 meters thick layer of flood sediments from the eruption. [1] In the archaeological excavation, skeletons have been found inside terraced houses whose positions show people helping each other before they died, and some adults died with children in their arms. [3]

Dating

The damming and flood outbreak occurred during the Qijia culture archaeological period. Radiocarbon dating from Lajia date the eruption rounded to 1920 BC. [1] The measurements were made, among other things, on skeletal parts of human victims after their dwellings collapsed during the earthquake. With a margin of error, measurements gave the date 1922±28 BC. [1]

In mythology

The historical chronicles the Book of Documents and the Records of the Grand Historian describe a great and devastating flood of the Yellow River, which was tamed by Yu the Great. After Yu solved the problem of the flood, the Xia Dynasty was established, which is China's first dynasty. [4] The flood of the Jishi Gorge has great similarities to the great flood described in the chronicles. [1] [5] [4]

In both the Book of Documents [6] and Records of the Grand Historian, [7] it is described that the place where Yu began to fight the river was "Jishi" (積石 / 积石) (literally translated 'amassed stones' [8] ) which is the same spelling as today's name on the Jishi Gorge. [1] [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xia dynasty</span> Traditional first dynasty in China

The Xia dynasty is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, it was established by the legendary figure Yu the Great, after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors, gave the throne to him. In traditional historiography, the Xia was succeeded by the Shang dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow River</span> Major river in China

The Yellow River is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system on Earth at the estimated length of 5,464 km (3,395 mi). Originating at an elevation above 15,000 feet in the Bayan Har Mountains, it empties into the Bohai Sea. The Yellow River basin was the birthplace of ancient Chinese civilization. Its yellow sediments are carried downstream from the Loess Plateau. The river experiences frequent devastating floods and course changes produced by the continual elevation of the river bed, sometimes above the level of its surrounding farm fields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Gorges Dam</span> Dam in Sandouping, Yiling District, Hubei, China

The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River near Sandouping in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downstream of the Three Gorges. The world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity (22,500 MW), the Three Gorges Dam generates 95±20 TWh of electricity per year on average, depending on the amount of precipitation in the river basin. After the extensive monsoon rainfalls of 2020, the dam's annual production reached nearly 112 TWh, breaking the previous world record of ~103 TWh set by Itaipu Dam in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Gorges</span> Series of natural gorges on the Yangtze River in China

The Three Gorges are three adjacent and sequential gorges along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River path, in the hinterland of the People's Republic of China. With a subtropical monsoon climate, they are known for their scenery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dongting Lake</span> Lake in Hunan province, China

Dongting Lake is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan Province, China. It is a flood basin of the Yangtze River, so its volume depends on the season. The provinces of Hubei and Hunan are named after their location relative to the lake: Hubei means "North of the Lake" and Hunan, "South of the Lake".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yu the Great</span> Xia Dynasty king and founder

Yu the Great or Yu the Engineer was a legendary king in ancient China who was famed for "the first successful state efforts at flood control," his establishment of the Xia dynasty which inaugurated dynastic rule in China, and his upright moral character. He figures prominently in the Chinese legend titled "Great Yu Controls the Waters". Yu and other "sage-kings" of ancient China were lauded for their virtues and morals by Confucius and other Chinese teachers. He is one of the few Chinese monarchs who is posthumously honored with the epithet "the Great".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erlitou culture</span> Bronze Age culture in China

The Erlitou culture was an early Bronze Age society and archaeological culture. It existed in the Yellow River valley from approximately 1900 to 1500 BC. The culture is named after Erlitou, an archaeological site in Yanshi, Henan. It was widely spread throughout Henan and Shanxi and later appeared in Shaanxi and Hubei. Most archaeologists consider Erlitou the first state-level society in China. Chinese archaeologists generally identify the Erlitou culture as the site of the Xia dynasty, but there is no firm evidence, such as writing, to substantiate such a linkage, as the earliest evidence of Chinese writing dates to the Late Shang period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lajia</span> Archaeological site in Qinghai, China

Lajia is a Bronze Age archaeological site in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, on the border between the Chinese provinces of Gansu and Qinghai. As at other sites of the Qijia culture, the people of Lajia had an agricultural economy based primarily on millet cultivation and sheep herding. They also kept pigs for use in ritual activities, including making oracle bones, and experimented with a high temperature-fired pottery described as proto-porcelain. The world's oldest known noodles were discovered at the site in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liujiaxia Dam</span> Dam

The Liujiaxia Dam is a major hydroelectric dam on the upper Yellow River, in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture of China's Gansu Province. The dam and its hydroelectric facility are located in Liujia Gorge, or Liujiaxia, just downstream from where the Tao River flows into the Yellow River. The site is on the eastern outskirts of Liujiaxia Town. Since Liujiaxia Town is the county seat of Yongjing County, it is often marked on less detailed maps simply as "Yongjing".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xunhua Salar Autonomous County</span> Autonomous county in Qinghai, China

Xunhua Salar Autonomous County is an autonomous county in the southeast of Haidong Prefecture, in Qinghai province, China. The autonomous county has an area of around 2,100 square kilometres (810 sq mi), and a population of approximately 161,600 inhabitants per a 2022 government publication. In the east it borders the province of Gansu and in the south and the west Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Its postal code is 811100 and its capital is the town of Jishi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glacial lake outburst flood</span> Type of outburst flood that occurs when the dam containing a glacial lake fails

A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a type of outburst flood caused by the failure of a dam containing a glacial lake. An event similar to a GLOF, where a body of water contained by a glacier melts or overflows the glacier, is called a jökulhlaup. The dam can consist of glacier ice or a terminal moraine. Failure can happen due to erosion, a buildup of water pressure, an avalanche of rock or heavy snow, an earthquake or cryoseism, volcanic eruptions under the ice, or massive displacement of water in a glacial lake when a large portion of an adjacent glacier collapses into it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental impact of reservoirs</span>

The environmental impact of reservoirs comes under ever-increasing scrutiny as the global demand for water and energy increases and the number and size of reservoirs increases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcanic dam</span> Natural dam produced directly or indirectly by volcanism

A volcanic dam is a type of natural dam produced directly or indirectly by volcanism, which holds or temporarily restricts the flow of surface water in existing streams, like a man-made dam. There are two main types of volcanic dams, those created by the flow of molten lava, and those created by the primary or secondary deposition of pyroclastic material and debris. This classification generally excludes other, often larger and longer lived dam-type geologic features, separately termed crater lakes, although these volcanic centers may be associated with the source of material for volcanic dams, and the lowest portion of its confining rim may be considered as such a dam, especially if the lake level within the crater is relatively high.

A landslide dam or barrier lake is the natural damming of a river by some kind of landslide, such as a debris flow, rock avalanche or volcanic eruption. If the damming landslide is caused by an earthquake, it may also be called a quake lake. Some landslide dams are as high as the largest existing artificial dam.

Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar Autonomous County is an autonomous county of Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, in Gansu province, China. It is located in the mostly mountainous area to the south of the Yellow River, near Gansu's border with Qinghai province. The total population was 239,390 in 2020; 64.9% were of an ethnic minority. The county's titular ethnic groups are the Bonan, Dongxiang, and Salar peoples. There are 21,400 Bonan people living in Jishishan, which accounts for 95% of all Bonan in China. The Bonan are known for their cultivation of Sichuan peppers and walnuts. Jishishan's local cuisine includes Bonan-style maisui baozi and lamb meat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wu River (Yangtze tributary)</span> River in Guizhou, China

The Wu River is the largest southern tributary of the Yangtze River. Nearly its entire length of 1,150 kilometres (710 mi) runs within the isolated, mountainous and ethnically diverse province of Guizhou. The river takes drainage from a 80,300-square-kilometre (31,000 sq mi) watershed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minhe Hui and Tu Autonomous County</span> Autonomous county in Qinghai, China

Minhe Hui and Tu Autonomous County, known in Tibetan as Kamalog, is the easternmost county in Qinghai Province, China. It is under the administration of Haidong Region. "Hui" refers to the Chinese Muslims, whereas "Tu" refers to the ethnic group known as “Monguor” in the West and as "Tu Zu" in China. It borders the Honggu District of Gansu on the east, demarcated by the Datong River, a tributary to the Huangshui River, which eventually flows into the Yellow River.

Guanting is a town in eastern Qinghai province, China. It is located in the southeast of Minhe County and, together with Guanting, Zhongchuan, Xiakou, Gangou and Xin'er townships, is referred to as the Guanting Area (官亭地区).

The Great Flood of Gun-Yu, also known as the Gun-Yu myth, was a major flood in ancient China that allegedly continued for at least two generations, which resulted in great population displacements among other disasters, such as storms and famine. People left their homes to live on the high hills and mountains, or nest on the trees. According to mythological and historical sources, it is traditionally dated to the third millennium BCE, or about 2300-2200 BCE, during the reign of Emperor Yao.

Twelve Views of Bayu are popular scenic views in and around the city of Chongqing, China. Ba and Yu are old names of Chongqing in Imperial times. Influenced by Eight Views of Xiaoxiang in Hunan Province, people in Chongqing listed their own most beloved views during the reign of the Tianshun Emperor of the Ming dynasty. Scenic views in the list changed throughout the history. Some scenic views appeared in earlier lists no longer exist in modern days due to the change of physical geography, landscapes and land-uses.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Outburst flood at 1920 BCE supports historicity of Chinas Great Flood and the Xia dynasty". Science. 5 August 2016. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Comment on "Outburst flood at 1920 BCE supports historicity of China's Great Flood and the Xia dynasty"". Science. March 31, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Archaeological discoveries at the Lajia site, Minhe County, Qinghai Province". IA CASS. April 28, 2005. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Massive flood may have led to China's earliest empire". Science. August 4, 2016. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Geologic Evidence May Support Chinese Flood Legend". National Geographic. August 4, 2016. Archived from the original on January 26, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  6. ↑ "《禹貢 - Tribute of Yu》". Chinese Text Project. Book of Documents. March 31, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  7. ↑ "《夏本紀 - Annals of the Xia》". Chinese Text Project. Shiji. March 31, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  8. ↑ "search: 積石". MDBG. March 31, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Jishi Gorge 积石峡". Google Maps. March 31, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.