By means of field survey and measurement data analysis,the types of river bank erosion along the desert wide valley reach of the upper Yellow River can be classified into two types: cohesive bank and non-cohesive sand accumulation bank,according to the river bank material composition and the sediment source. The former type can be further classified into three subtypes: plane collapse,arc collapse and cantilever collapse,whereas the latter has two subtypes of erosion: surface sliding and plane collapse. Tak...