Geomorphic evolution of the Yangtze Gorges and the time of their formation

The Three Gorges of the Yangtze link its upper rocky valley to downstream alluvial sections. A series of stepped landforms exist in the Three Gorges area, the Sichuan Basin upstream and the Jianghan Basin downstream. These landforms are characterized by two planation surfaces, one erosional surface, and up to seven terraces. The higher planation surface (named the Exi Surface, ~1800–2000 m a.s.l.) and the lower planation surface (1200–1500 m) were probably formed in the Tertiary (prior to 3.4–3.6 Ma B.P.). No correlation seems to exist between the drainage networks of earlier period with the present Yangtze system. It is suggested that the erosional surface found in the study area at 800–1200 m in elevation above sea level was formed in Late Pliocene of Early Pleistocene. During this period following the last planation event, the ancestral Yangtze might have begun to adjust its drainage network. The seven terraces, well developed along the eastern Sichuan Basin and the Three Gorges, date from Early to Late Pleistocene (1.16–0.01 Ma B.P). The chronostratigraphic evidence and diagnostic sediments are generally comparable in time and space from the Sichuan Basin, through the Three Gorges, to the Jianghan Basin. Therefore, the present study proposes that the Three Gorges were cut not later than the initiation of the earliest terrace. The fluvial landforms in the Yangtze Gorges are characterized also by valley-in-valley cross-sections, i.e. an older U-shaped valley cut by a younger V-shaped valley. A tectonic rise accompanied by a rapid downcutting of the river channels predominated in the region.