Dataset

this study investigates four decades of sedimentary and morphological changes in the Yangtze Estuary using an integrated framework. Drawing on grain size analysis, grain trend analysis, bathymetric data, and sediment budget calculations (e.g., sediment diversion ratio), we characterize temporal shifts in sediment transport and depocenter dynamics. Unlike previous work, we focus on interannual-scale patterns and the driving mechanisms behind sediment accumulation–erosion transitions across the estuary. Specifically, we aim to: (1) identify long-term variations in sediment characteristics from the 1980s to the present; and (2) reveal how these changes, under declining sediment supply and human interventions, have influenced the evolution and spatial migration of the estuarine depocenter.