Geochemical and geomorphological evidence for the provenance of aeolian deposits in the Badain Jaran Desert, northwestern China

Hu, Fangen; Yang, Xiaoping

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.10.039

Cited by 128 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…Eu is especially significant for tracing sediment provenance because it is the only element among the REEs that can exist stably in a divalent state (Mason & Moore, ). A negative Eu anomaly (measured by Eu/Eu * which is a value less than 1.0) results from incorporation of Eu in Ca‐plagioclase (Mason & Moore, ); it is a widely used index for tracing sediment provenance (Hu & Yang, ; Liu & Yang, , ; Muhs, Budahn, et al, ; Muhs, ). Rb substitutes for K in the major rock‐forming minerals, based upon the principles of element substitution (Mason & Moore, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The precise significance of sedimentary records for environmental evolution cannot be fully determined without knowledge of sediment provenance (Muhs et al, ; Thomas, ). Furthermore, the identification of different source‐sink linkages for sandy sediments could lead to very different interpretations of regional sedimentary sequences (Hu & Yang, ). For example, the sand in desert marginal sequences may indicate a humid environment with direct sediment input from sandy alluvium and colluvium eroded from the uplands (Williams, ), whereas sands in the interior of deserts may indicate an arid environment with aeolian sediment input from desert dunes (Yang, Preusser, et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Various techniques have been used to trace provenance of desert sediment. These include sediment composition using major, trace, and rare earth elements (REE; Chang et al, 2000;Honda & Shimizu, 1998;Hu & Yang, 2016;Liu & Yang, 2013McLennan et al, 1993;Muhs, Bettis, et al, 2008;Muhs, Budahn, et al, 2008;Muhs et al, 2017;Muhs, 2017;Yang et al, 2007), isotopic composition (Chang et al, 2000;Hattori et al, 2003;McLennan et al, 1993;Rao et al, 2015), mineralogy (Honda & Shimizu, 1998;Lancaster et al, 2015;Muhs, Bettis, et al, 2008;Muhs, Budahn, et al, 2008;Muhs et al, 2017;Muhs, 2017;Rittner et al, 2016;Zhu et al, 1981), detrital zircon U-Pb ages Rittner et al, 2016), and grain size analysis (Honda & Shimizu, 1998;Lancaster et al, 2015;Langford et al, 2016;Muhs, Budahn, et al, 2008;Weltje & Prins, 2007). We collected a series of sediment samples along a north-south transect across the sand sea of the Taklamakan Desert for the measurement of the major, trace, and REE composition of the sand (>63 μm) and dust (<63 μm) fractions, with the aim of determining their respective provenances and to understand the modern supply mechanisms of the desert.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sedimentological and Geochemical Composition of Aeolian Sediments in the Taklamakan Desert: Implications for Provenance and Sediment Supply Mechanisms

Jiang

Yang

2019

JGR Earth Surface

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Sediment provenance is a key issue in understanding the aeolian system of the Taklamakan Desert, an important source of global dust and the largest sand sea in the midlatitudes worldwide. In provenance research, it may be a mistake to assume that the sand and dust fractions of desert sediments have the same source, which has been the case in previous studies of the Taklamakan Desert. The aims of the present study were to identify the provenance of the sand and dust fractions of the sediments of the Taklamakan Desert, to determine the contemporary sediment supply mechanisms of the desert, and to assess the relative importance of silt‐producing mechanisms for the desert dust. We analyzed the grain size of desert sediment samples and measured the content of major, trace, and rare earth elements within the bulk samples, sand fractions (>63 μm), and dust fractions (<63 μm). Our grain size and geochemical data sets suggest that the Kunlun Mountains are the main source of the sand fraction, whereas both the Kunlun and Tian Shan Mountains are the main sources of the dust fraction. Our interpretation is supported by the elevation gradient within the Taklamakan Desert and by wind data.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sedimentological and Geochemical Composition of Aeolian Sediments in the Taklamakan Desert: Implications for Provenance and Sediment Supply Mechanisms

Jiang

Yang

2019

JGR Earth Surface

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“…For example, dolomite in the Qaidam Desert is only secondary, and mostly detrital dolomite is observed in the loess of the CLP (Chen & Li, ). The CaO% of aeolian deposits is far lower in the Alxa arid area (Hu & Yang, ) and Ordos Desert (Liu & Yang, ) than in the CLP. The southwestern Ordos Desert covers a smaller area than the CLP (Liu, ) and is not located upwind of the western CLP (Liu, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distant Taklimakan Desert as an Important Source of Aeolian Deposits on the Chinese Loess Plateau as Evidenced by Carbonate Minerals

Meng

Liu

Zhao

et al. 2019

Geophysical Research Letters

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It is generally agreed that the aeolian loess on the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) is derived from adjacent upwind arid areas, mainly including the Qaidam Desert, Alxa arid area, and Ordos Desert. However, the mineralogical and geochemical compositions of aeolian materials show several inconsistencies between these adjacent source areas and the CLP. Here, we compare the distribution of carbonate minerals in bulk samples and the <63‐μm fraction from upwind deserts to six loess sections from the CLP. The results show that the detrital dolomite and total carbonate, which are abundant in the loess of the CLP, are concentrated in the Taklimakan Desert rather than adjacent source areas. This finding suggests that the distant Taklimakan Desert is an important source of aeolian deposits on the CLP, reconciling the mineralogical and geochemical inconsistencies between CLP and adjacent areas.

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“…Analyses of grain size and geochemistry are the basic and most effective methods for understanding the modern processes of the Earth's surface and past environmental changes in the arid and semi-arid regions of northern China (Liu et al, 1993;Chen et al, 1998Chen et al, , 2001aYang et al, 2007;Dong et al, 2011;Xu et al, 2011;Zhu and Yu, 2014;Hu and Yang, 2016;Lin et al, 2016). Previous results demonstrated that the grain size and geochemical parameters can discern the sedimentary environment, mechanisms and processes, and possibly the material provenance of the different deposits (Pye, 1987;Pye and Zhou, 1989;Nesbitt and Young, 1982;Taylor and McLennan, 1985;Fedo et al, 1995;Kasper-Zubillaga et al, 2007a, b;Armstrong-Altrin et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grain size and geochemical study of the surface deposits of the sand dunes in the Mu Us desert, northern China

et al. 2016

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Material components and geochemical behaviour of desert deposits are closely related with the level and degree of the desertification. In this research, we systematically carried out a grain size and geochemical study of the surface sediments from fixed, semi‐fixed, semi‐mobile and mobile sand dunes and discussed their link with the desertification in the Mu Us Desert, northern China. Grain size results indicated that the main components of the different sandy sediments were predominantly 200–300‐µm coarse grain size. Along with the stronger desertification, the fine material content (clay and silt) and mean grain size (Φ) became lessened, while the coarse particle is remarkably increased due to the repeated wind sorting during that process. These sandy deposits were mainly transported by saltation and creep; the increased creep and decreased saltation and suspended components were probably a response to the lessened fixation degree of the dunes. Geochemical analysis demonstrated that the surface sandy deposits were mainly composed of SiO2, Al2O3 and Na2O, which was very similar to the geochemical constituents of the other deserts in northern China. These sandy surface sediments, with their relatively high Ca and Na content, incur little or no geochemical weathering, which is probably attributable to the arid conditions and the lack of effective weathering. Additionally, an A‐CNK‐FM diagram indicated that decreased Fe and Mg contents were possibly related to the stronger abrasion and sorting during the desertification process. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Geochemical and geomorphological evidence for the provenance of aeolian deposits in the Badain Jaran Desert, northwestern China

Cited by 128 publications

References 87 publications

Sedimentological and Geochemical Composition of Aeolian Sediments in the Taklamakan Desert: Implications for Provenance and Sediment Supply Mechanisms

Sedimentological and Geochemical Composition of Aeolian Sediments in the Taklamakan Desert: Implications for Provenance and Sediment Supply Mechanisms

Distant Taklimakan Desert as an Important Source of Aeolian Deposits on the Chinese Loess Plateau as Evidenced by Carbonate Minerals

Grain size and geochemical study of the surface deposits of the sand dunes in the Mu Us desert, northern China

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