This paper helps to address the growing need to resolve the severe loss of deltaic lands by providing a new understanding for shallow‐water digitate delta growth. The integration of satellite image analysis of modern deltas, field studies of the Ganjiang Delta in the Poyang Lake and ‘Delft3D’ simulations further results in improved facies models for shallow‐water digitate deltas. These analyses show that shallow‐water digitate delta bar fingers are sinuous in contrast to the straight deep‐water digitate delta bar fingers. These differences are assigned to the effect of water depth on outflow hydraulics, where friction‐dominated shallow‐water delta effluents promote mouth bar deposition that then divert flow around the mouth bar, resulting in the formation of sinuous bar fingers. These effects are further strengthened by the meandering of the shallow‐water jet that increases lateral sediment transport, and by the higher flow resistance and lower gradient of the shallow‐water outflows. Our data and analyses further show differences in the morphology and deposits of the shallow‐water sinuous bar fingers, where some bar fingers develop sinuous and others meandering (with point bars) distributary channels. Lateral channel migration and point bar formation (meandering) occur as a secondary process that does not change the shape or width of the bar fingers themselves, and is suggested to be a function of slight initial differences in channel sinuosity. These differences in distributary channel morphology have a strong effect on bar finger facies distribution. Sediment cohesion is another important control on bar finger bending processes, because high cohesion promotes formation of enclosed bays, where their bank strength exceeds the centrifugal force of water flow. Lower sediment cohesion results in sinuous bar fingers without formation of enclosed bays. This work provides insights into natural and artificial shallow‐water digitate delta growth and provides new quantitative facies models for shallow‐water digitate deltas.

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Channel bars (mid-channel bars or point bars) in river-deltas offer building materials, habitats, and farmlands, and threaten water transportation, as well as, could become targets in hydrocarbon reservoirs. Researchers focus on the channel bar pattern in rivers, whereas ignoring the channel bar pattern in distributary channels. We propose a sharp change of the channel bar pattern from the river to the delta. The integration of remote map analysis, fieldwork, and a flume experiment resulted in a quantified sharp change in the channel bar pattern in the Ganjiang River-Delta and revealed a hydrodynamic mechanism. The result shows that distributary channels develop much more insular, finer-grained, smaller-scaled, lower-width-depth-ratio channel bars, compared to the upstream river. Distributary channels develop more point bars and fewer mid-channel bars than the upstream braided river, and develop fewer point bars than the upstream meandering river. Sharply weakening bank erosions in distributary channels lead to the formation of the sharp change in the channel bar pattern from the upstream river, due to backwater-effect-induced sharp gentling of landform gradient. The backwater effect impedes bank erosions in the distributary channels, but promotes bank erosions in upstream rivers, in turn, enhances the sharp change of the channel bar pattern. This work provides insights into channel bars' growth in modern river-deltas and provides new facies models for the river-delta system.