Fractal characteristics of the main channel of Yellow River and its relation to regional tectonic evolution

Yellow River is the second longest river in Chinaʹs, and its mainstream passes four different tectonic provinces in North China from west to east. Here, we exploit the relationship between the fractal dimensions of Yellow River channel and the tectonic provinces it flows through. The fractal dimension series Di was obtained for the main channel of Yellow River by applying the successive shift divider method using several different scale ranges. The results show that the magnitude of Di values is related to the uplifting intensity and time of the tectonic provinces where the river channel is located. The intenser and younger the uplifting of the tectonic provinces, the larger the fractal dimension Di of the channel when the scale range is taken as 200 nodes (300 km). Using the same scale range, the Di values also are calculated by applying a successive shift box method. The differences between results from both methods are discussed.