Geology 25(9):771774, Werner BT, Kocurek G (1999) Bedform spacing from defect dynamics. New views on the role of bedform interactions within a set of boundary conditions. Wind Regime and Sand Transport in China's Badain Jaran Desert. 2) The megadunes in Badain Jaran Sand Sea have been experiencing piecemeal deflation on the windward slope, and of deposition in the lee. Bargain liberally. participated in field investigation, helped with wind tunnel experiments and data acquiring as well as analyzing; all the authors wrote, reviewed and edited the manuscript. W.X.M., S.J.M., L.H.Y. The tallest megadunes on the Earth are developed in Chinas Badain Jaran Sand Sea, as a result of which a prolonged curiosity exists with regards to the existence and migration of such large dunes. (2009) on the geomorphological patterns characterized by height-spacing relationship of megadunes suggests that this relationship is consistent with superimposed dunes and wind ripples, and also with dunes and wind ripples distributed globally over the sand seas. The spring-fed lakes in the Badain Jaran Desert are not mirages. (Beijing: China Ocean Press 1985). Geological Journal 50(6):707719, Zhao T, Liu W, Xu Z, Liu T, Xu S, Cui L, Shi C (2019) Cosmogenic nuclides ($^{10}$Be and $^{26}$Al) erosion rate constraints in the Badain Jaran Desert, northwest China: implications for surface erosion mechanisms and landform evolution. 41771012). Observed local air circulation that radiates from the interdune lakes (based on the unpublished data collected from wind towers). Geology 23(12):11071110, Werner BT (1999) Complexity in natural landform patterns. Scientific Reports 7, 8741, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-09458-w (2017). 36, 367395. Sun, P., and Sun, Q. Sun, P. & Sun, D. Primary study on hydrogeology of western Inner Mongolian Plateau - Research of SandControl, No. Contributions of modern Gobi Desert to the Badain Jaran Desert and the The distinction between the formation mechanism of ripples and dunes has been verified by extensive study including field observation and physical and numerical simulation (Richards, 1980; Pelletier, 2009; Lmmel et al., 2018). Contribution of Lake-Dune Patterning to the Dune Height of Mega-Dunes Jimin Sun Huayu Lu Nanjing University It is well known that the Gobi Desert is the dominant source area of the Badain Jaran Desert (BJD) and the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP). Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. It usually has a wide unimodal to acute bimodal wind regime with intermediate directional variability characterized by RDP/DP (RDP is resultant drift potential, DP is drift potential) ranging from 0.5 to 0.8 (Dong et al., 2004). The Barchans of Southern Peru. The analysis pertaining to Dong et al. 4) The advancement of megadunes adds more evidence to support the fact that the development of megadunes in the Badain Jaran Sand Sea is controlled dominantly by wind rather than other factors such as the underlying relieves, ground water, etc. Introduction The Badain Jaran Desert, part of the Alashan Desert, is the second largest dunefield in China. 3) The relationship between the advancement rate and height confirmed previously for dunes is extended to complex reversing megadunes. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 26, 111145 (1998). Secondly, the possibility that the underlying relief controls the development of megadunes can be negated because no exposure of underlying bedrocks is observed on stoss side of the megadunes, which have undergone a long history of deflation. No purchase necessary. (C) Three megadune drill cores (orange dots) in the Badain Jaran Sand Sea and OSL sampling sites (red dots). The total sand and dust transports under different wind speed. Quaternary International 410:111118, Lorenz R, Zimbelman JR (2014) Dune worlds: How windblown sand shapes planetary landscapes. Zhu, Z., Chen, Z., Wu, Z., Li, J., Li, B., and Wu, G. (1981). They are concentrated in the southeast within an area of approximately 4,000km2. Most dunes orient between 10 and 60 margin of the desert are dated back to 100 190. In fact, the stoss beddings are preserved much less in fossil aeolian sand. Investigation of the Sand Sea with the Tallest Dunes on Earth: China's Badain Jaran Sand Sea. Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, CAS, Lanzhou, 730000, Peoples Republic of China, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, Peoples Republic of China, You can also search for this author in OSL Chronology and Palaeoclimatic Implications of Aeolian Sediments in the Eastern Qaidam Basin of the Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. (2021). Aeolian geomorphology has always attempted to understand the formation mechanism of aeolian bedforms that are organized into a hierarchical system consisting of ripples, dunes, and megadunes (i.e., large bedforms with a spacing exceeding 500m and a height reaching 200 or 300m and may occur as linear, crescentic, or star forms) (Wilson, 1972; Goudie, 2004; Livingstone and Warren, 2019). (Beadnell, 1910; Finkel, 1959; Coursin, 1964; Long and Sharp, 1964; Norris, 1966; Hastenrath, 1967; Zhu et al., 1981; Fryberger et al., 1984; AI-Hinai, 1988; Lancaster, 1994; Dong et al., 2000; Ould Ahmedou et al., 2007; Vermeesch and Drake, 2008; Bourke et al., 2009; Bridges et al., 2012). (A, B) Location of the Badain Jaran Sand Sea and wind regime; the sand drift potential is calculated based on the ERA5 Reanalysis Data (www.ecmwf.int). Journal of Palaeogeography 7, 7997 (2005). Deposition of Transverse Dune Mountains in Badain Jaran Desert. CAS Simons, D. B., Richardson, E. V., and Nordin, C. F. (1965). The dominant megadune types in the Badain Jaran Desert are the large compound barchanoid chains and the compound star dunes (Walker and Olsen 1987; Dong et al. The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary material. Barchan Dunes of Imperial Valley, California. Desert Dune Activity: Concepts and Significance. . Both ends (about 30mm) of the sediment in the tube that were thought to be exposed were excluded in OSL dating. Controls on Aeolian Activity: Some New Perspectives from the Kelso Dunes, Mojave Desert, California. Springer, Berlin, Savage CJ, Radebaugh J, Christiansen EH, Lorenz RD (2014) Implications of dune pattern analysis for Titans surface history. 1), would spend at least 1,681 ka to supply adequate sand materials to achieve the modern dimensions of the BJD based on the evidence that the Heihe River can only transport 40,000 tons of sand per day23 from Qilian Mt. FIGURE 3. Shantou University Abstract The coexistence of megadunes and interdune lakes is a unique landscape in the Badain Jaran Desert. Sedimentology pp 11991219, Ewing RC, Kocurek G, Lake LW (2006) Pattern analysis of dune-field parameters. Tao Wang Xunming Wang Request full-text Abstract The Badain Jaran Desert features the highest megadunes on Earth, and a unique megadune-lake alternation landscape. From 1960 to 2015, the potential sand transports in Ejin varied between 112 and 2,722gm2 a1 with an average of 1,047gm2 a1, while in Guaizihu those figures were 1,471, 3,399, and 2,265gm2 a1, respectively (Supplementary Fig. Cite this article. PubMedGoogle Scholar. OSL dating of sediments from the Gobi Desert, Southern Mongolia. (2004). An off-the-beaten path cave with an underground lake. However, based on the calculation of potential transport rates, the changes in wind regime, and the formation and development of the Gobi Desert, there might be some differences between the estimated and actual time to form the current dimensions of the BJD and CLP and further researches are expected to fill the gaps with more precise estimation. (2009). Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. J. Geology. . Complex factors may influence the movement of sand dunes but the factors that influence the advancement of megadunes in the Badain Jaran Sand Sea due to the absence of vegetation and the underlying obstacles (Dong et al., 2009). Beijing: Science Press. The General Induction to Chinese Desert. Groundwater maintains dune landscape | Nature Sheep graze and birds swoop toward the saline waters; waters whose surfaces reflect the yellow-brown of sand. (Beijing: Science Press 1999). 87Sr/86Sr ratios, 14C, 13C and mineral compositions of calc-sinters, and 3He/4He, 4He/20Ne, 18O, D, pH and TDS of water from springs and lakes are analyzed in detail. Different from various previous works focusing on water source, here, the lake basin origin is investigated. Pattern analysis can estimate dune formation ages, judge wind conditions and extract environmental signals from the common pattern parameters of active dune field. Cite this article. The drilling depth of the three megadunes is similar, around 10m (the maximum depth of the drill). Although some previous studies had acknowledged that in the Quaternary the Gobi Desert was the key source areas of the Badain Jaran Desert (BJD) and the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP), there are no quantitative estimations for the potential contributions of the Gobi Desert. 35 (24). The advancement of megadunes revealed in this study has several important implications: 1) The advancement of the megadunes explains the reason why the windward slopes of megadunes in Badain Jaran Sand Sea are dominated by slipface beddings inclined towards the advancement direction and lack the gently-inclined stoss beddings. The outstanding feature that characterizes the Badain Jaran Sand Sea is its megadune-lake landscape, which is comprised of megadunes and more than 100 lakes of different sizes. Dune Dune Mesquite Flat Dunes in Death Valley National Park In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by eolian processes. doi:10.1038/s41567-018-0106-z, Lancaster, N. (1994). Aeolian Geomorphology : A New Introduction. 1964. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. 2) relating the movement rate and height has been derived for transverse dunes (Simons et al., 1965). We also extend our deepest respect and appreciation to all the scientists who made substantial contributions to previous research in the Badain Jaran Sand Sea. Earth Sci. Journal of Arid Land 8(5):670680, Liu S, Lai Z, Wang Y, Fan X, Wang L, Tian M, Jiang Y, Zhao H (2016) Growing pattern of mega-dunes in the Badain Jaran desert in China revealed by luminescence ages. doi:10.1016/0169-555X(92)90005-9, Prescott, J. R., and Hutton, J. T. (1994). For example, several hypotheses have been proposed with respect to the formation of megadunes in the Badain Jaran Sand Sea. Nat. The dune has an estimated height of 1640 feet (500 meters) and it sits on Badain desert that covers 30447 miles (49000 kilometers). Registan Dunes - NASA Earth Observatory 46 (24), 1452114530. doi:10.1007/BF01821323. London: Routledge. Our result demonstrates that one of the dunes is formed since ~62 ka, with two phases of superposed dunes dated to 26~32 ka and modern time. Earth-Science Reviews 120:2039, Elbelrhiti H, Claudin P, Andreotti B (2005) Field evidence for surface-wave-induced instability of sand dunes. edn, (Beijing: Science Press 1964). Controls on the Height and Spacing of Eolian Ripples and Transverse Dunes: A Numerical Modeling Investigation. However, there were still some debates on the source of the BJD and CLP. Open Access Article Contribution of Lake-Dune Patterning to the Dune Height of Mega-Dunes in the Badain Jaran Sand Sea, Northern China by Zhenmin Niu , Nai'ang Wang *, Nan Meng , Jiang Liu , Xueran Liang , Hongyi Cheng , Penghui Wen , Xinran Yu , Wenjia Zhang and Xiaoyan Liang The Badain Jaran Desert (BJD) in China is a desert with impressive sand dunes and a groundwater situation that has attracted numerous researchers. 1) within the Gobi Desert were employed to further analyses. 15 intact gobi surface samples were collected for further wind tunnel experiments, and more details of sampling strategies are provided in Supplementary InformationS3. Formation and evolution of the Badain Jaran Desert, North China, as About half of that area gives rise to megadunes that tower between 200 to 300 meters (660 to 980 feet) tall. doi:10.1038/432459a. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3091.1984.tb00869.x. The age-depth profiles suggest that it is imperative to discuss the megadune advancement rate based on the average advancement rate of the three megadunes, though different megadunes represent different time periods. Introduction The tallest dunes (the sand mountains) in the earth are observed in the Badain Jaran Desert in China ( Yang et al., 2003, Dong et al., 2013) ( Fig. A light wind can form ripples on a sand surface in just minutes. Icarus 230:514, Fischer S, Cates ME, Kroy K (2008) Dynamic scaling of desert dunes. For the extraterrestrial dune fields, this method is a great advantage while many in situ and laboratory techniques cannot do anything. Chin.Sci.Bull. Three megadunes in the hinterland of the megadune area are selected to investigate their advancement (Figure 1). The tubes containing sediment samples were sealed by aluminum foil and black plastic film. Secondly, it is impossible even to calculate a rough estimate as all the theoretical and empirical formulae developed for the movement rate of dunes have their own specific boundary conditions (Livingstone and Warren, 1996). Internet Explorer). Theories regarding the movement of barchans are followed here to understand the advancement of megadunes in the Badain Jaran Sand Sea. We are grateful to Prof. Luo Wanyin and Prof. Zhang Zhengcai (Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences) for their assistance with our fieldwork. Formation of the Highest Sand Dunes on Earth. Liu, T. Loess and Environments. An ideal location for the large-scale pattern analysis test is the Badain Jaran desert where the tallest terrestrial aeolian dune occurs. The 10m drill could drill through a stratum up to 2.7ka old on the Ulan Jaran megadune, but only about 0.4ka on the Nuoritu megadune. ), with the knowledge of the age of BJD (Supplementary InformationS11), the experimental and statistical results showed that under the modern wind regime the Gobi Desert could provide nearly all sand sources for the BJD formation. your institution. 46 (1), 610. The environmental radioactivity and OSL dating results of the three megadunes are listed in Table 2. The Gobi Desert, developed from the Upper Pleistocene to the Holocene4,5 by aeolian-fluvial interactions6, and also called as desert pavement or stony desert being characterized by wide, shallow basins of which the smooth rocky bottom is filled with sand, silt or clay, pebbles or, more often, with gravel7,8 (Supplementary InformationS1), was considered as one of the sand sources of the BJD9 and the important loess source of the CLP10,11. 21 Articles, Bulletin: Institut Franaise de l'Afrique Noire, This article is part of the Research Topic, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.811181. However, our understanding regarding the mechanism of aeolian bedforms is limited to selected dune types, typically barchan and linear dunes (Rozier et al., 2019; Qian et al., 2021). A Study on the Sand Dune Geomorphology of Taklimakan Desert. Publishers note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Modern dust aerosol availability in northwestern China. Location of the Gobi Desert, Badain Jaran Desert, Chinese Loess Plateau, and the sampling site. An important assumption is that the advancement of megadunes is realized by wind erosion on the stoss slope and deposition on the leeward slope or slipface. doi:10.1006/jare.1994.1052, Li, X., Wang, Z., Chen, F., Lancaster, N., Li, Z., Li, G., et al. Geophysical Research Letters 35, L01804, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL031672 (2008). In contrast, the relationship between the formation mechanism of dunes and megadunes remains unknown because limited studies have been conducted with respect to megadunes, which are generally compound to complex with the superimposition of dunes and ripples. Geomorphology 106(34):180185, Dong Z, Qian G, Lv P, Hu G (2013) Investigation of the sand sea with the tallest dunes on Earth: Chinas Badain Jaran sand sea. [Sun Peishan, Sun Deqin. The crest length ages indicate that the modern active dune field began to form at about 2075 ka BP, the dunes in the southeast and northeast are older than those in the western. doi:10.11821/xb200101010, Yang, X. Yang et al (2003) conclude that these currently hypersaline lakes were filled with fresh or brackish water between 9 and 4 ka BP. Geology 27(8):727730, Wintle AG (2008) Fifty years of luminescence dating. Aeolian Sand Sorting and Megaripple Formation. pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-09066-4, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-09066-4. The moisture content was measured by oven drying method. Combinations of field investigations, wind tunnel experiments, and wind field analyses revealed that the potential erosion depth on modern Gobi Desert varied between 0.41 and 0.89mm a1. Yan, M., Wang, G., Li, B. Landscape Evolution and Palaeoclimate in the Deserts of Northwestern China, with a Special Reference to Badain Jaran and Taklamakan. A 200mm long and 50mm wide stainless tube was inserted to the sediment core to obtain OSL samples. Therefore, by utilizing the comprehensive field investigations, wind tunnel experiments, simulations, and the remote-sensing analyses, here we quantitatively evaluated the contributions of Gobi Desert on the sand and loess sources of BJD and CLP under the modern wind regimes. 1), located in northwestern China and southern Mongolia, are known as the key areas of dust emissions in Central Asia1, regions owning the highest sand dunes in the world2, and the cradle of Chinese civilization3, respectively. Article Nature 313(5998):105107, Kocurek G, Ewing RC (2005) Aeolian dune field self-organization - implications for the formation of simple versus complex dune-field patterns. Dune orientation mostly ranges between \(10^{\circ }\) and \(60^{\circ }\). Science 360(6392):992997, USGS (2018) Earth explorer. Geology 39, 10311034, https://doi.org/10.1130/g32296.1 (2011). 3 Altmetric Metrics Abstract The coexistence of megadunes and interdune lakes is a unique landscape in the Badain Jaran Desert. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. Livingstone, I., and Warren, A. They contend that this groundwater concentrates in some areas to form springs, which feeds a layer of freshwater into deeper lakes. Water Use Characteristics of Two Dominant Species in the Mega-Dunes of The Formation of Ripples and Dunes on an Erodible Bed. Measuring Sand Dune Dynamics in the Badain Jaran Desert, China - MDPI The tallest megadunes on the Earth are developed in China's Badain Jaran Sand Sea, as a result of which a prolonged curiosity exists with regards to the existence and migration of such large dunes. volume79, Articlenumber:347 (2020) The Badain Jaran Desert features the highest megadunes on Earth, and a unique megadune-lake alternation landscape. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Arabian Journal of Geosciences 9(3):190, Wang F, Li B, Jiang S, Niu D, Wen X, Li Z, Si Y, Guo Y, Yang Z, Liu E (2017) Climate changes at millennium scale in East Asian monsoon during OIS3a in Badain Jaran Desert, China. Tracing the provenance of fine-grained dust deposited on the central Chinese Loess Plateau. Barchan-dune Movement in Imperial Valley, California. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-09066-4, access via PubMed The aeolian processes of the adjacent Gobi Desert may provide substantial sand sources for the formation of BJD, while its contributions to the loess of the CLP were relatively low. OSL dating Pattern of mega-dune growth 1. 171 Mystery Lakes of the Badain Jaran Desert hannahlund252 (Atlas Obscura User) The spring-fed lakes in the Badain Jaran Desert are not mirages. The advancement rate of megadunes at the order of meter per hundred years is much slower than the dunes commonly observed. Reaching over 1,600 feet tall, they are roughly the same height as the. Formation mechanisms of megadunes and lakes in the Badain Jaran Desert Based on the studies so far, the potential loess sources of the CLP were mainly originated from the mountains and sandy deserts16, Mongolian gobi desert17, the Yellow River sediments18,19, and the northern Tibetan Plateau20. Geomorphology of the megadunes in the Badain Jaran Desert Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Hugenholtz CH, Levin N, Barchyn TE, Baddock MC (2012) Remote sensing and spatial analysis of aeolian sand dunes: A review and outlook. PubMed Central Hua Zhao Sand dunes up to 400 m high are common in the Badain Jaran Desert in China, but how and why mega-dunes grow remains unclear. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. Quaternary International 219, 3744, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2009.10.029 (2010). CAS Therefore, the present study attempts to estimate the advancement rate of megadunes in the Badain Jaran Sand Sea by means of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating that can provide accurate dates of aeolian sediments (Yu and Lai, 2012). Understanding sand dunes activity and dynamics not only is relevant to the studies of aeolian processes and the morphological development of different dune types but also has considerable implications for the recognition and interpretation of dunes to which further significance can be linked with paleoclimatic studies (Thomas, 1992). Geographical J. In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles