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Arid Land Geography ›› 2023, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (12): 1995-2004.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2023.373

• Earth Surface Process • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effect of sandstorms on surface particle size variation of barchan dunes in the hinterland of Taklimakan Desert

CHEN Jingping1(),YU Ziying1,YANG Fan2,3,WANG Mi1,HU Han1,DING Xuan1,GAO Xin4,WANG Xin1()   

  1. 1. College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, China
    2. Institute of Desert Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration (CMA), Urumqi 830002, Xinjiang, China
    3. National Observation and Research Station of Desert Meteorology, Taklimakan Desert of Xinjiang, Urumqi 830002, Xinjiang, China
    4. Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2023-07-19 Revised:2023-09-11 Online:2023-12-25 Published:2024-01-05

Abstract:

This study focuses on the barchan dunes situated in the hinterland of the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang, China. Our observations tracked the morphological evolution of a specific dune as it transforms from a barchan dune to an irregular dune and back to a barchan dune under the influence of sandstorms. By examining the particle size of surface sand across different dune morphologies, we investigate the impact of sandstorms on the particle size distribution in barchan dunes. Our findings reveal the following: (1) The particle size of surface sand along the central axis of the windward slope remains constant before and after the deformation and recovery of the barchan dune. However, there is a gradual increase in coarseness from the dune’s base to its summit. This suggests that, under similar wind direction and force conditions, sandstorms exert minimal influence on the particle size distribution pattern on the windward slope of barchan dunes with comparable morphology. (2) Both the central axis and sand ridges of the barchan dune predominantly feature extremely fine and fine sand. The average content of extremely fine sand and fine sand is 83.07% and 82.81% on the central axis of the windward slope and the leeward slope, and 84.42% and 91.20% on the left and right sand ridges, respectively. Moreover, after the sandstorm, the surface sand of the recovered barchan dune exhibits well-sorted and consistent characteristics, with an overall finer particle size, indicating a significant influence of the sandstorm on the particle size characteristics of the surface sand. These results offer valuable insights into the spatial distribution pattern of surface sand in barchan dunes under the impact of sandstorms.

Key words: sandstorm, barchan dune, particle size, Taklimakan Desert