Subsurface old drainage detection and paleoenvironment analysis using spaceborne radar images in Alxa Plateau

Abstract

For geological and environmental research in an arid area, a unique advantage of radar remote sensing is that radar wave can penetrate a certain layer of dry sand (a few centimeters to meters thick) to reach the buried bedrock. The penetration capability is able to reveal the subsurface geological structure and old drainage paths. Based on the analysis of SIR-A, SIR-B, SIR-C, Radarsat ScanSAR, Landsat MSS and Landsat TM images acquired on different dates and the investigations made in several field trips in Alxa Plateau of Inner Mongolia, a number of old river valley and lake basins buried by wind-blown sand were recognized. Two parallel old drainage systems in the north and middle of the study area are delineated. The study suggests that the moving sand belts mainly follow the old drainage courses. This study also establishes a preliminary drainage evolution model for an area of about 300 000 km2 since the Tertiary, and finds that the Alxa Plateau was once an area with many rivers and lakes with a warm and humid climate. The relief reversion caused by neotectonic movement since “Qinghai-Tibet movement” is also analyzed.