Tracing provenance of eolian sands in the northern Ulan Buh Desert, China: Evidence from the REE geochemical characteristics

Abstract

Desertification is a primary threat to crop farming, the livestock industry, and the eco-environment in northwestern China. Through field research and satellite imagery, it has been discovered that there are 4–5 sand belts in the shape of handclasps connecting major deserts in the Alxa Plateau region of northern China. These sand belts have been expanding for several decades. However, eolian sand transport between major deserts through these expanding sand belts is still underestimated. Identifying the source areas of eolian sands in deserts provide essential knowledge to prevent desertification. In this study, we collected samples from the northern Ulan Buh Desert (UBD), the Yamalik Desert (YD), and the Langshan Mountains and analyzed their REE contents in the <125 μm fraction. We compared REE geochemical characteristics of fine-grained sands in the UBD with other recently published REE data for potential source areas. Our findings indicate that the primary origins of fine-grained sands in the northern UBD are from the Qilian Mountains (QM) and Badain Jaran Desert (BJD), which are transported through the YD. Contributions from the Gobi-Altay Mountains to the north are relatively minor. The Langshan Mountains and Hawula Mountains are not considered as the primary sources of fine-grained sands in the UBD. In contrast, surface sediments in the southern UBD have a local mixture of the paleo-lacustrine deposits, the Gobi sediments, and minor external inputs from the BJD and QM. Our findings demonstrate that sand belts connecting these deserts play a crucial role in the eolian transport of fine-grained sands. Therefore, both the Chinese government and scientists should pay close attention to them in future efforts to combat desertification.