This paper takes lots of ocean charts on North Harbor of Yangtze River estuary from 1964 to 2002 as basic data, using the method of c ombining GIS with DEM ,and by means of three dimension river course erosion and deposition (EAD) evolution relief map and the EAD statistic data, and then does EAD analysis and river course character evolution analysis for North Harbor. The results indicate that: firstly, North Harbor generally shows erosion character from 1964 to 2002,the amount of sand erosion is 0.377 5 billion t; secondly, the complex evolution process of North Harbor River course character represents from two troughs one ridge to three troughs two ridges and then three sand - banks four channels during the 38 years. The research method can be applied into river shape analysis and river course realignment study in the future.