Impact of the Aral Sea Syndrome - the Aralkum as a Man-Made Dust Source

Christian Opp,Oleg Semenov,Michael Groll,Asia Khamzina,Natalya Vereshagina,D Altausen,S Abdullaev,J Hofer

doi:10.1051/e3sconf/20199903003

Abstract

Ground based dust monitoring is an important tool for the long-term monitoring of aeolian sediment transport in Central Asia as it provides valuable insights into the spatial and temporal dynamics of dust deposition as well as grants access to the transported material for further analyses. Between 2006 and 2012 such a monitoring was carried out in the Turan lowland to analyze the effects of the newly formed Aralkum. The detected spatial and temporal dust deposition variability was significant and encourages further studies. The dust deposition increased over time, which correlates with a decreasing trend in precipitation, increasing wind speeds and a shift towards northern winds. More than 50% of all dust samples collected exceed the health based deposition threshold and the most intense dust storm events reached ground level deposition rates of up to 150 g/m2 per hour. This study showed the impact of the Aralkum, but also that the Kyzylkum is a far more active dust source. With regard to climate change and an increasing aridity in the region it can be expected that the aeolian dust transport will continue to increase, making a wide-spread monitoring program even more important.

Highlights

Introduction and Study DesignCentral Asia is a landlocked region characterized by an arid climate and wide-spread deserts and semi-deserts, especially in the lower parts of the Aral Sea basin, mainly the Turan lowland
The negative impacts of this manmade desert on the surrounding region have been widely debated and satellite images impressively show the white plumes of salty dust blown from the Aralkum into the Turan lowland [5]
Even though the Aral Sea syndrome and the dramatic satellite images have been in the spotlight of the scientific and public discussion for years, only few projects have analyzed the aeolian sediment transport in detail [6]

Summary

Introduction

Introduction and Study DesignCentral Asia is a landlocked region characterized by an arid climate and wide-spread deserts and semi-deserts, especially in the lower parts of the Aral Sea basin, mainly the Turan lowland. The Kyzylkum and the Karakum are the two largest deserts in the Turan lowland and important dust sources in the region and beyond. Based on their spatial connection the 23 stations were clustered into regions (Aralkum, Kyzylkum, Karakum, Khorezm, and others, Fig. 1) to analyze the meteorological and deposition characteristics as well as their spatial and temporal dynamics.

Results

Conclusion