Modern dust aerosol availability in northwestern China

Xunming Wang,Danfeng Li,Jimin Sun,Huizheng Che,Lili Lang,Mingrui Qiang,Linlin Jiao,Wenyong Ma,Bingqi Zhu,Huayu Lu,Ting Hua,Hui Li,Hong Cheng

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-09458-w

Abstract

The sources of modern dust aerosols and their emission magnitudes are fundamental for linking dust with climate and environment. Using field sample data, wind tunnel experiments and statistical analysis, we determined the contributions of wadis, gobi (stony desert), lakebeds, riverbeds, and interdunes to modern dust aerosol availability in the three important potential dust sources including the Tarim Basin, Qaidam Basin, and Ala Shan Plateau of China. The results show that riverbeds are the dominant landscape for modern dust aerosol availabilities in the Qaidam Basin, while wadis, gobi, and interdunes are the main landscapes over the Ala Shan Plateau and Tarim Basin. The Ala Shan Plateau and Tarim Basin are potential dust sources in northwestern China, while the Qaidam Basin is not a major source of the modern dust aerosols nowadays, and it is not acting in a significant way to the Loess Plateau presently. Moreover, most of modern dust aerosol emissions from China originated from aeolian processes with low intensities rather than from major dust events.

Highlights

IntroductionModern dust aerosols generated by aeolian processes[1] play important roles in climate and weather processes[2, 3], provide nutrient and essential elements for terrestrial and marine ecosystems[4,5,6,7,8], become dominant sources of loess[9, 10] and marine sediments[11,12,13], and thereby contribute significantly to global climate, carbon and biogeochemical cycles[14, 15]
The Qaidam Basin is a potential source of the Loess Plateau during Pleistocene[45]
Abrasion among sand grains breaks the clay coatings on grain surfaces of the dune sands, which act as the main source of particulate matter less than 10 microns (PM10)[46, 47]

Summary

Introduction

Modern dust aerosols generated by aeolian processes[1] play important roles in climate and weather processes[2, 3], provide nutrient and essential elements for terrestrial and marine ecosystems[4,5,6,7,8], become dominant sources of loess[9, 10] and marine sediments[11,12,13], and thereby contribute significantly to global climate, carbon and biogeochemical cycles[14, 15]. In Asia, approximately 400 to 1100 Tg yr−1 of modern dust aerosols, or more than 50% of the global total, originate from China such as from the Qaidam Basin, Tarim Basin and Ala Shan Plateau[22,23,24,25,26] (Fig. 1). Impacts of modern dust aerosols on global climate, carbon and biogeochemical cycles; 3) identifying the source of aeolian sediments that have been employed as proxies in climate reconstructions in the sediment areas[43, 44] To address this gap, we use field investigations, sampling, wind tunnel experiments, and particle size measurements as well as the statistical analysis to determine modern dust aerosol availabilities of different landscapes over the Tarim Basin, Qaidam Basin and Ala Shan Plateau. The results improve our understanding of modern dust aerosol availabilities and aeolian sediment sources in China

Methods

Results

Conclusion