Characteristics of wind erosion and deposition in oasis-desert ecotone in southern margin of Tarim Basin, China

Abstract

The oasis-desert ecotone is a fragile ecological zone that is affected both by oasis and desert conditions. To understand the impact of the differences in wind power, and the influence of wind erosion and deposition on the ecotone, meteorological data and contemporaneous wind erosion and deposition data were collected on the southern margin of Tarim Basin with serious sand-blown hazards. The wind velocity, average wind velocity, sand drift potential (DP), resultant sand drift potential (RDP), and sand transportation rate decrease significantly and successively across four landscape types with increasing vegetation coverage (VC). Flat surfaces and areas of shifting sandy ground experience intense wind erosion with fast movement of mobile sand dunes; semi-fixed sand areas experience extensive wind deposition but only slight wind erosion; and fixed sand areas experience only slight wind erosion and deposition. Volume of wind erosion on bare newly reclaimed farmland is up to 6.96 times that of bare shifting sandy ground. Wind erosion volume per unit area and VC follow an exponential function relationship in natural conditions, while wind deposition volume per unit area does not conform to any functions which has close relationship with vary topography and arrangement patterns of vegetation besides for VC. The results indicate that the volume of wind erosion has a close correlation with VC, and different types and distribution patterns of topography and vegetation also profoundly influence the wind deposition volume in the field, and underground water tables in different landscape types control the plant community distribution.