The survival of Dunhuang Oasis is largely determined by the evolution of sand dunes in the southern edge of the oasis, mainly composed of shield dunes and mega pyramid dunes, which occupy twothirds and one-third of th...The survival of Dunhuang Oasis is largely determined by the evolution of sand dunes in the southern edge of the oasis, mainly composed of shield dunes and mega pyramid dunes, which occupy twothirds and one-third of the area, respectively. However, few studies have focused on dynamics of these dunes, especially in terms of quantification. So the theoretical basis of sand-control engineering is relatively limited. Here we present the characteristics of dune dynamics of a shield dune and mega pyramid dune in the southern edge of Dunhuang Oasis during April 2014-April 2016 based on measurement data of a 3-D laser scanner. Results indicate that the volume of the shield dune decreased during the monitoring period of two years, and the gravity centers of the monitored shield dune moved windward, indicating that sand was transported toward the oasis. Conversely, the dune volume of the mega pyramid dune increased and the gravity center presented no prominent movement, indicating that the megapyramid dune was relatively stable and its migration toward the oasis was not notable. Thus, compared with mega pyramid dunes, shield dunes in the southern edge of Dunhuang Oasis are identified as a more significant sand source endangering the protection of the oasis, and sand-control engineering should mainly focus on these shield dunes.展开更多
Assume that an oasis and its surrounding desert consist of an isolated system without mass and energy exchange with the outer environment.The characteristics of oasis evolution have been explored under the condition o...Assume that an oasis and its surrounding desert consist of an isolated system without mass and energy exchange with the outer environment.The characteristics of oasis evolution have been explored under the condition of system energy conservation.The results show that oasis evolves with two equilibrium states.The first equilibrium suggests a stable expansive and an unstable degraded oasis whereas the second equilibrium indicates a stable shrink and an unstable increase of the oasis area.If one equilibrium state is unstable,the components of the isolated system(oasis and desert) would tend to be no energy exchange and they each reach to energy balance respectively.Oasis would maintain its initial area in this case.Further analyses point out that the two equilibrium states have completely different characteristics.In the first equilibrium state,a higher vegetation albedo,lower soil albedo and larger canopy resistance,and direr soil both contribute to the oasis area expansion,accompanying an excessive large desert soil and vegetation canopy temperature difference(SCTD).In the second equilibrium state,however,a lower vegetation albedo,higher soil albedo and small canopy resistance,and wetter soil benefit the oasis area to stay near its initial value,following a moderate SCTD.The convergent trajectories of the initial values in phase space are influenced by the separatrices of the equilibrium points.Higher temperature is an advantage factor for initial values convergent to the oasis expansion solution.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China(Grant No.41871016)the National Key Research and Development Program of China(Grant No.2017YFC0504801)+1 种基金Opening Fund of Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification,Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.KLDD-2017-007)Technology research and development program of China Railway Urumqi Group Co.,Ltd.(2017J002,2017J003)
文摘The survival of Dunhuang Oasis is largely determined by the evolution of sand dunes in the southern edge of the oasis, mainly composed of shield dunes and mega pyramid dunes, which occupy twothirds and one-third of the area, respectively. However, few studies have focused on dynamics of these dunes, especially in terms of quantification. So the theoretical basis of sand-control engineering is relatively limited. Here we present the characteristics of dune dynamics of a shield dune and mega pyramid dune in the southern edge of Dunhuang Oasis during April 2014-April 2016 based on measurement data of a 3-D laser scanner. Results indicate that the volume of the shield dune decreased during the monitoring period of two years, and the gravity centers of the monitored shield dune moved windward, indicating that sand was transported toward the oasis. Conversely, the dune volume of the mega pyramid dune increased and the gravity center presented no prominent movement, indicating that the megapyramid dune was relatively stable and its migration toward the oasis was not notable. Thus, compared with mega pyramid dunes, shield dunes in the southern edge of Dunhuang Oasis are identified as a more significant sand source endangering the protection of the oasis, and sand-control engineering should mainly focus on these shield dunes.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(Grant No.2014CB953903)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(Grant No.2013YB45)
文摘Assume that an oasis and its surrounding desert consist of an isolated system without mass and energy exchange with the outer environment.The characteristics of oasis evolution have been explored under the condition of system energy conservation.The results show that oasis evolves with two equilibrium states.The first equilibrium suggests a stable expansive and an unstable degraded oasis whereas the second equilibrium indicates a stable shrink and an unstable increase of the oasis area.If one equilibrium state is unstable,the components of the isolated system(oasis and desert) would tend to be no energy exchange and they each reach to energy balance respectively.Oasis would maintain its initial area in this case.Further analyses point out that the two equilibrium states have completely different characteristics.In the first equilibrium state,a higher vegetation albedo,lower soil albedo and larger canopy resistance,and direr soil both contribute to the oasis area expansion,accompanying an excessive large desert soil and vegetation canopy temperature difference(SCTD).In the second equilibrium state,however,a lower vegetation albedo,higher soil albedo and small canopy resistance,and wetter soil benefit the oasis area to stay near its initial value,following a moderate SCTD.The convergent trajectories of the initial values in phase space are influenced by the separatrices of the equilibrium points.Higher temperature is an advantage factor for initial values convergent to the oasis expansion solution.
