Sedimentary evidence for the diversion of the Yellow River onto the North China Plain 3000–2600 years ago

The lower Yellow River is characterized by frequent channel avulsion and flooding during the late Holocene, which not only shaped the geomorphic landscape of the North China Plain, but also modified the preexisting drainage network and affected human settlement pattern. The channel evolution of the lower Yellow River during historical periods of China has been well known from documentary records. However, it is still unclear about the drainage pathway of the river during the archaic period of Chinese history. Here we show sedimentary evidence for a dramatic channel displacement of the lower Yellow River about 3000–2600 years ago. Our multi-proxy analyses indicate that the first prehistoric diversion of the Yellow River occurred around 3000 yr B.P. and the river flowed northward into the Bohai Sea through the foreland depression along the eastern foothill of the Taihang Mountains. Frequent floods thereafter not only led to the widespread infilling of depressions in the lower reaches of the Yellow River and thus accelerated the formation of the North China Plain, but also drove humans to migrate from the piedmont area of the Taihang Mountains to the hinterland of the central North China Plain. •Sedimentary evidence of Yellow River flow into Bohai Sea via Taihang Mountains.•Between 3 and 2.6 kyr BP, Yellow River Flowed through Taihang Mountains' Front Basin.•After 3 kyr BP, Yellow River course changes accelerated North China Plain Formation.