Arid Zone Research ›› 2025, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (9): 1660-1670.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2025.09.10

• Desertification Control • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Characteristics of wind-sand transport in wide valley wind erosion area in the middle and lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River

LIU Hao1(), GONG Hang1, DING Guodong1,2,3,4()   

  1. 1. School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
    2. Engineering Research Center of Forestry Ecological Engineering, Ministry of Education, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
    3. Key Laboratory of Soil and Water Conservation, State Forestry and Grassland Administration, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
    4. Ningxia Yanchi Maowusu Ecosystem National Positioning Observation Research Station, Yanchi 751500, Ningxia, China
  • Received:2025-03-11 Revised:2025-05-20 Online:2025-09-15 Published:2025-09-16
  • Contact: DING Guodong E-mail:lh99976@163.com;dch1999@263.net

Abstract:

The wide valley wind erosion area in the middle and lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River is one of the areas with the most frequent wind-sand activities in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the sand emission law of different underlying surface in this area during the wind-sand season for windbreak and sand fixation and sustainable development of the ecological environment. In this study, four typical underlying surfaces in the Linzhi section of the middle and lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River Basin were identified. The characteristics of wind-sand transport on different underlying surfaces were systematically revealed through simultaneous observation of the gradient anemometer and multichannel sand sampler. The main findings are summarized as follows. (1) Affected by the surface vegetation, the near-surface wind speed profile conforms to the logarithmic function; however, the parameters are significantly different. (2) The sediment particle size is spatially differentiated. The proportion of silt in the mobile sand land of the river beach (37.93%) was significantly higher than that of the other underlying surfaces, whereas the riparian sand land was dominated by fine-medium sand (83.49%). (3) The sand transport process has significant underlying surface dependence, and the wind-sand flow structure conforms to the exponential-power function composite model. (4) The order of sand transport per unit area in the wind-sand season is riparian sandy land (96.16 t·d-1)>foothill sandy land (77.65 t·d-1)> beach sandy land (69.87 t·d-1)>sparse forest land (5.23 t·d-1).

Key words: Yarlung Zangbo River, wind speed profile, wind-sand flow structure, sediment discharge