Intensive grazing in spring-summer has been responsible for environmental degradation of the Gurbantunggut Desert in recent years. The coverage of plants and biological crusts, sand surface stability and physicochemic...Intensive grazing in spring-summer has been responsible for environmental degradation of the Gurbantunggut Desert in recent years. The coverage of plants and biological crusts, sand surface stability and physicochemical characteristics of soil on the dune surface were conducted in 2002 (winter grazing) and 2005 (spring-summer grazing). The results showed that over 80% of the total area of the dune surface was covered by well-developed biological crusts and plants in 2002, when the interdune and middle to lower part of dune slopes were stabilized and only the crest had 10-40 m wide mobile belt. Affected by spring-summer grazing in 2005, over 80% of the total cover of biological crust was destructed and the plant coverage only reached 1/5 of that in 2002, especially the ephemeral plant cover had a great change. The value of sand transport potential in 2005 only reached 1/3 of that in 2002, but the total surface activity in 2005 was 1.6 times stronger than that in 2002. Meanwhile the mobile area began to expand from the dune top to the whole dune surface following spring-summer grazing. Compared with 2002, medium sand content of the dune surface soil increased by 13.9%, while that of fine and very fine sands decreased by 7.4% and 8.0% respectively in 2005 and the soil organic matter in 2005 was only about 1/2 of that in 2002. It is obvious that the presence of snow cover and frozen soil in winter could avoid the surface structure destruction in winter, while spring-summer grazing made excessive damage to biologic crusts and ephemeral plants. Spring is the main windy season in Gurbantunggut Desert and therefore intensive activity of dune surface occurred following spring-summer grazing, which led to a great loss of fine sand and organic matter. It can be seen that grazing season have a significant influence on the sustainable development of the desert ecosystem in Northwest China.展开更多
The grain size composition, distribution characteristics and spatial variation of eolian sand soil on distinct positions across two longitudinal dunes and interdune areas were studied by means of conventional grain si...The grain size composition, distribution characteristics and spatial variation of eolian sand soil on distinct positions across two longitudinal dunes and interdune areas were studied by means of conventional grain size analysis and geostatistical methods. In the study, 184 samples of eolian sand soil from the 0-30cm layer were systemically collected and measured from two longitudinal dunes and interdunes in the southern Gurbantunggut Desert. The results show that the dominant grain sizes are fine and very fine sands, and the differences of grain size compositions between the distinct geomorphologic positions are significant. The contents of clay and silt are highest on the interdune areas and lowest on the crests, and higher on the leeward slopes than on the windward slopes. The contents of very fine and fine sands are highest on the windward slopes and lowest on the crests. The contents of medium, coarse and very coarse sands are lowest on the interdune lands, and highest on the crests, and are identical on the two slopes. The coarser sizes (phi(1)) and mean sizes (Mz) for eolian sand soil all have a varying tendency from fine to coarse sizes with interdune area -> leeward slope -> windward slope -> crest, and the sorting (sigma) are poorly to well sorted. The results of geostatistical analysis reveal that phi(1), Mz and a values are moderately to strongly spatially autocorrelated. The values of the spatially correlated ranges are phi(1) < sigma < Mz. The spatial variation for these grain size parameters is significant across the longitudinal dune landscape. From the crests towards the bottom of the slope, there is a varying gradient of zonal distribution, and the gradient values on the leeward slopes are larger than sites on the windward slopes.展开更多
Taibus County, Inner Mongolia, China, lies in a farming-pastoral ecotone, where severe wind erosion and various aeolian sand hazards are prevalent and fixed and semi-fixed sand dunes occur frequently. This study was c...Taibus County, Inner Mongolia, China, lies in a farming-pastoral ecotone, where severe wind erosion and various aeolian sand hazards are prevalent and fixed and semi-fixed sand dunes occur frequently. This study was conducted to investigate the relationships between sand transportation rate and wind speed for the fixed and semi-fixed sand dunes based on field measurements. The annual quantity of soil erosion by wind was estimated using meteorological wind data. The results indicated that the sand transportation rate in Taibus County in 2000 was 57.38 kg cm-1 year-1 for the semi-fixed dunes and 4.56 kg cm-1 year-1 for the fixed dunes. The total duration of erosive winds covered 12.5% of the time of the year, and spring posed the highest potential of sand transportation. Wind with low speed (≤ 17 m s-1) and high frequency plays a dominant role in sand transportation, while strong wind (≥ 17 m s-1) with low frequency significantly enhanced the sand transportation. Erosive wind speed, directions, and frequency were three crucial dynamic factors influencing sand hazards in the farming-pastoral ecotone. The dominant factors intensifying sand and dust storms in Taibus County might be related to the favorable wind condition in combination with the durable drought, which led to land desertification and vegetation degradation.展开更多
In order to clarify the formation mechanism of linear dunes on the northern margin of Qarhan Salt Lake, northwestern China, we analyzed the grain-size and sorting parameters of the dune and interdune sands. The surfac...In order to clarify the formation mechanism of linear dunes on the northern margin of Qarhan Salt Lake, northwestern China, we analyzed the grain-size and sorting parameters of the dune and interdune sands. The surface sands (0-30 ram) from the dune base to the crest of both flanks and interdune corridors were sampled along transects from upwind to downwind through the dune field. The results indicated that the grain-size distribution differed at different positions between and within the dunes. The frequency curve for dune sands mainly showed a bimodal distribution, while the interdune sediments showed a trimodal distribution. The grain size distribution of the linear dunes showed a finer crest pattern, i.e. the crests were composed of sands that were generally finer, better sorted than those of base sands. In addition, at the dune field scale, the dune crest sands were tending to become much finer but sorting became worse along the downwind transects. However, the grain-size parameters of sediments in the interdune corridors showed no clear pattern. The results demonstrated that the grain size and sorting parameters exhibited a systematic change not only at the individual scale but also at the dune field scale. Our results quantitatively estimate the limited role of cohesive sediments on the formation of linear dune under unidirectional wind regime. More attention should be paid to a long-term wind regime observation, internal sedimentary structures and their formation ages.展开更多
基金National Basic Research Program of China,No.2009CB421303National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.40771032National Science Supporting Program,No.2007BAC17B03
文摘Intensive grazing in spring-summer has been responsible for environmental degradation of the Gurbantunggut Desert in recent years. The coverage of plants and biological crusts, sand surface stability and physicochemical characteristics of soil on the dune surface were conducted in 2002 (winter grazing) and 2005 (spring-summer grazing). The results showed that over 80% of the total area of the dune surface was covered by well-developed biological crusts and plants in 2002, when the interdune and middle to lower part of dune slopes were stabilized and only the crest had 10-40 m wide mobile belt. Affected by spring-summer grazing in 2005, over 80% of the total cover of biological crust was destructed and the plant coverage only reached 1/5 of that in 2002, especially the ephemeral plant cover had a great change. The value of sand transport potential in 2005 only reached 1/3 of that in 2002, but the total surface activity in 2005 was 1.6 times stronger than that in 2002. Meanwhile the mobile area began to expand from the dune top to the whole dune surface following spring-summer grazing. Compared with 2002, medium sand content of the dune surface soil increased by 13.9%, while that of fine and very fine sands decreased by 7.4% and 8.0% respectively in 2005 and the soil organic matter in 2005 was only about 1/2 of that in 2002. It is obvious that the presence of snow cover and frozen soil in winter could avoid the surface structure destruction in winter, while spring-summer grazing made excessive damage to biologic crusts and ephemeral plants. Spring is the main windy season in Gurbantunggut Desert and therefore intensive activity of dune surface occurred following spring-summer grazing, which led to a great loss of fine sand and organic matter. It can be seen that grazing season have a significant influence on the sustainable development of the desert ecosystem in Northwest China.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2009CB825105)
文摘The grain size composition, distribution characteristics and spatial variation of eolian sand soil on distinct positions across two longitudinal dunes and interdune areas were studied by means of conventional grain size analysis and geostatistical methods. In the study, 184 samples of eolian sand soil from the 0-30cm layer were systemically collected and measured from two longitudinal dunes and interdunes in the southern Gurbantunggut Desert. The results show that the dominant grain sizes are fine and very fine sands, and the differences of grain size compositions between the distinct geomorphologic positions are significant. The contents of clay and silt are highest on the interdune areas and lowest on the crests, and higher on the leeward slopes than on the windward slopes. The contents of very fine and fine sands are highest on the windward slopes and lowest on the crests. The contents of medium, coarse and very coarse sands are lowest on the interdune lands, and highest on the crests, and are identical on the two slopes. The coarser sizes (phi(1)) and mean sizes (Mz) for eolian sand soil all have a varying tendency from fine to coarse sizes with interdune area -> leeward slope -> windward slope -> crest, and the sorting (sigma) are poorly to well sorted. The results of geostatistical analysis reveal that phi(1), Mz and a values are moderately to strongly spatially autocorrelated. The values of the spatially correlated ranges are phi(1) < sigma < Mz. The spatial variation for these grain size parameters is significant across the longitudinal dune landscape. From the crests towards the bottom of the slope, there is a varying gradient of zonal distribution, and the gradient values on the leeward slopes are larger than sites on the windward slopes.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.40771021)the Ministry of Education ofChina (No.20070027020)the Ministry of Science & Technology of China (Nos.2006BAD20B03 and 2006BAD20B02).
文摘Taibus County, Inner Mongolia, China, lies in a farming-pastoral ecotone, where severe wind erosion and various aeolian sand hazards are prevalent and fixed and semi-fixed sand dunes occur frequently. This study was conducted to investigate the relationships between sand transportation rate and wind speed for the fixed and semi-fixed sand dunes based on field measurements. The annual quantity of soil erosion by wind was estimated using meteorological wind data. The results indicated that the sand transportation rate in Taibus County in 2000 was 57.38 kg cm-1 year-1 for the semi-fixed dunes and 4.56 kg cm-1 year-1 for the fixed dunes. The total duration of erosive winds covered 12.5% of the time of the year, and spring posed the highest potential of sand transportation. Wind with low speed (≤ 17 m s-1) and high frequency plays a dominant role in sand transportation, while strong wind (≥ 17 m s-1) with low frequency significantly enhanced the sand transportation. Erosive wind speed, directions, and frequency were three crucial dynamic factors influencing sand hazards in the farming-pastoral ecotone. The dominant factors intensifying sand and dust storms in Taibus County might be related to the favorable wind condition in combination with the durable drought, which led to land desertification and vegetation degradation.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41171010, 41130533, 41301003)
文摘In order to clarify the formation mechanism of linear dunes on the northern margin of Qarhan Salt Lake, northwestern China, we analyzed the grain-size and sorting parameters of the dune and interdune sands. The surface sands (0-30 ram) from the dune base to the crest of both flanks and interdune corridors were sampled along transects from upwind to downwind through the dune field. The results indicated that the grain-size distribution differed at different positions between and within the dunes. The frequency curve for dune sands mainly showed a bimodal distribution, while the interdune sediments showed a trimodal distribution. The grain size distribution of the linear dunes showed a finer crest pattern, i.e. the crests were composed of sands that were generally finer, better sorted than those of base sands. In addition, at the dune field scale, the dune crest sands were tending to become much finer but sorting became worse along the downwind transects. However, the grain-size parameters of sediments in the interdune corridors showed no clear pattern. The results demonstrated that the grain size and sorting parameters exhibited a systematic change not only at the individual scale but also at the dune field scale. Our results quantitatively estimate the limited role of cohesive sediments on the formation of linear dune under unidirectional wind regime. More attention should be paid to a long-term wind regime observation, internal sedimentary structures and their formation ages.