Arid Zone Research ›› 2016, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (3): 664-671.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2016.03.29

• Ecology and Environment • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spatial Variation of Compaction on Transverse Dune Surface in Hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert

JIA Wen-ru1,2, LI Sheng-yu1, MA Xue-xi1, WANG Ning-bo1   

  1. 1. Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Urumqi 830011,Xinjiang,China;
    2. State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resources Ecology,MOE Engineering Research Center of Desertification and Blown-sand Control,Beijing Normal University,Beijing 100875,China
  • Received:2014-09-22 Revised:2015-01-19 Online:2016-05-15 Published:2016-05-31

Abstract: Dune surface compactness is a comprehensive index,can be used to quantify the compaction degree at different parts of dune surface,and plays an important role in the formation of aeolian dune. In this paper,the space differentiation of surface compactness and formation mechanism of four kinds of simple transverse dunes were investigated by means of the Least Significant Difference method (LSD) and Multiple Comparison (MC) based on field measurements of dune morphology and surface compactness of four simple transverse dunes (PD,SD,PCD and TCD) on inter-dune corridors of complex ridges in hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert. The results are as follows: ① Space differentiation of surface compactness was different and had directionality for the four kinds of dunes. Longitudinal differentiation was the most significant,but the transverse one was not obvious; ② The mean surface compactness was in an order of SD>PD>PCD>TCD,while the space differentiation of compactness was just opposite. Moreover,the locations of the maximum value and minimum value were various; ③ There were the very good correlations among the dune surface compactness,bulk density and porosity. Therefore,for the similar sand material,compactness can reflect some physical properties well,such as bulk density,porosity and so on.

Key words: transverse dune, compactness, bulk density, porosity, spatial differentiation, Taklimakan Desert