The research of barrier shoreline sedimentary system of lakes usually plays a weak point of lacustrine sedimentology.Taking Daotang river in Qinghai Lake as an example,based on the outcrop,remote sensing data andsource-to-sinkmethod,it is defined that thesource-to-sinksystem is composed of source area,alluvial fan,Daotang river,delta and barrier shore.Along with the uplifting of the Riyue Mountain and the Yeniu Mountain,the Daotang river basin was gradually transformed into a relatively closedinland lake.With the warm dry climate and the further uplift of Yeniu Mountain,Daotang river overturned and formed a barrier-coastal sedimentary system.The formation of the sedimentary system is controlled by tectonic geomorphology,source of the material,climate change,river system and lake level variation.The researches about ancient provenance lithology of sedimentary basins,the lake palaeogeomorphology controlled by tectonic action and palaeowind field are favorable for predicting the sand in the continental rift basin.