Quantifying Wind Erosion During the Late Quaternary in the Qaidam Basin, Central Asia

Abstract

Wind erosion is an important surface process on terrestrial planets but is difficult to quantify particularly on long‐term timescales. Here we use high‐resolution Terrestrial Laser Scanning and cosmogenic Beryllium‐10 (10Be) exposure dating to investigate the yardangs, a wind‐eroded landform with aerodynamic forms, within the western Qaidam Basin, Central Asia. The results indicate that the yardangs started to form at ~105 ka, coincident with the early phase of the arid last glacial period. We further calibrated the wind erosion rate in the last glacial period to be ~0.26 mm/a, twice as fast as that of the present‐day interglacial period in our study site. Our results highlight the severe wind erosion during glacial periods and emphasize the fundamental control of global glacial‐interglacial climate oscillations on the secular variation in wind erosion in the Qaidam Basin during the late Quaternary period.

Quantifying Late Pleistocene to Holocene Erosion Rates in the Hami Basin, China: Insights Into Pleistocene Dust Dynamics of an East Asian Stony Desert

“…(d) 10 Be‐erosion rate results with 1σ uncertainties, showing the range of results and overall mean erosion rate. For comparison, previously determined erosion rates for the Hami Basin (Zhang et al., 2020) and Qaidam Basin (Kapp et al., 2011; Rohrmann et al., 2013; Wu et al., 2019) are shown. Orange shaded regions show the uncertainties of the Hami Basin erosion rates.…”

“…White boxes indicate areas used to calculate erosion depth, and the red star indicates collection site for ESR sample. (b and c) Schematic model of yardang evolution in the Hami Basin and its relationship to the terrace ESR age (inferred from Wu et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2020). (d) 10 Be‐erosion rate results with 1σ uncertainties, showing the range of results and overall mean erosion rate.…”

“…Dust emission is prevalent in arid or semi‐arid areas, with annual rainfall <∼250 mm/yr, minimal vegetation cover, and strong winds (Prospero et al., 2002). As such, it is reasonable that a majority of previous studies of wind erosion in East Asia predominately focus on three areas; the Qaidam Basin (e.g., Kapp et al., 2011; Rohrmann et al., 2013; Wu et al., 2019), the Tarim Basin (e.g., Dong et al., 2012; Xia, 1987) and the larger Gobi Desert (e.g., Cui et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2011), all of which are important sources of dust today (Prospero et al., 2002) or during glacial periods (Kapp et al., 2011). However, few studies have focused on quantifying wind erosion in the stony deserts of East Asia (Wang et al., 2019), despite their expansive presence and potential for dust generation in the Plio‐Pleistocene (Abell, Rahimi, et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2020).…”

Structural Coupling Between the Qiman Tagh and the Qaidam Basin, Northern Tibetan Plateau: A Perspective From the Yingxiong Range by Integrating Field Mapping, Seismic Imaging, and Analogue Modeling

“…The Youquanzi anticline is located to the southeast of the Xianshuiquan anticline and to the northeast of the Youshashan anticline. It is cored by the SY Fm., and has a quite low relief due to intensive wind erosion in the Quaternary (L. Wu, Prush, et al, 2019; Wu, Xiao, & Yang, 2014), resulting in the exposure of many small‐scale faults in the core (Figure 3a). The Youquanzi anticline is overall asymmetric with a steep (~70°) and wide northeastern limb, and a relatively gentle (15–20°) southwestern limb (Figure 3c), and is likely governed by the Yingbei fault (F1) to the northeast (Figure 3c).…”

Paleowind directions from the magnetic fabric of loess deposits in the western Chinese Loess Plateau and implications for dust provenance

“…In contrast, during interglacial periods, a different wind system, the northwest winds of the East Asia winter monsoon, were proposed as the dust-bearing winds (Pullen et al, 2011). Studies of wind erosion rates in the Qaidam Basin and the estimated volume of material removed by wind erosion also support the conclusion that the Qaidam Basin is a major source of dust to the CLP (Kapp et al, 2011; Rohrmann et al, 2013; Wu et al, 2019). Although Licht et al (2016) ruled out the major dust contribution from the Qaidam Basin, they still stressed the influence of the westerly winds on dust transportation.…”