Impacts of wind velocity on sand and dust deposition during dust storm as inferred from a series of observations in the northeastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, China

Abstract

The monthly sand and dust deposition flux and modern dust storms were monitored in the northern Qaidam Basin of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. The monthly sand and dust flux varied between 0.57 and 18.12 mg cm − 2 month − 1 from June 2003 to April 2005, and was well correlated with the monthly extreme wind velocity ( V extr) ( r 2 = 0.60, n = 23). Sand and dust was mainly deposited in spring and early summer in the study area. The weight of settled sand and dust collected during dust storms exhibited a positive correlation with the mean 10-min wind velocity ( r 2 = 0.60, n = 16) during the dust storms. For the typical dust storms, the weight and flux of settled sand and dust will linearly increase with the increasing wind strength and fluctuation amplitude of wind velocities. The coarse fraction (> 63 μm) also increases with them, in contrast, the fine-grained fraction (< 63 μm) decreases. It is plausible to assume that most of the fine-grained dust particles are lifted and transported far from the region under dust storm conditions, especially under the stronger and more variable wind conditions. The results demonstrate that the wind regime (strength and variability) is a key control on the sand and dust deposition during dust storm; dust can be emitted from the Qaidam Basin as one of dust source areas in China.