Arid Zone Research ›› 2024, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (8): 1413-1422.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2024.08.15

• Ecology and Environment • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Grain size characteristics and sand source analysis of three aeolian landforms in the lower reaches of the Qira River floodplain

LI Xinxin1,2(), MAO Donglei1,2(), LAI Fengbing1,2, XUE Jie3,4, HE Qiangqiang1,2, MA Yujiao1,2   

  1. 1. College of Geography and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, Xinjiang, China
    2. Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Lake Environment and Resources in Arid Region, Urumqi 830054, Xinjiang, China
    3. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
    4. Cele National Station of Observation and Research for Desert-Grassland Ecosystems, Cele 848300, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2023-10-12 Revised:2024-05-21 Online:2024-08-15 Published:2024-08-22
  • Contact: MAO Donglei E-mail:18336585982@163.com;donglei6325@sina.com

Abstract:

The grain size characteristics of sediments provide extensive information on environmental change, which is of great importance for the study of desert management and for preventing desertification. The grain size characteristics and sedimentary environment stability of different aeolian landforms were studied using grain size analysis, the grain size-standard deviation method, and Sahu genetic discrimination. The results show that: (1) The surface sediments of barcrescent dune s, scrub dunes, and low bare flat sand are dominated by medium sand, fine sand, and extremely fine sand. The surface sediments were coarsest in barcrescent dunes and smallest in scrub dunes, with average grain sizes of 270.42 µm and 95.60 µm, respectively. (2) The sediment sorting of the three geomorphic types was poor, with proportions of 74.47%, 90.47% and 66.7%, respectively. The surface sediments of barcrescent dunes have a negatively skewed distribution and medium peak state, whereas the surface sediments of scrub dunes and low bare flat sand have a symmetrical distribution, medium peak state, and narrow peak state. (3) The environmentally sensitive components of the three different aeolian landforms were concentrated in the size range from 22.4-399 µm, which is more sensitive to climate change and therefore more able to reflect changes in the sedimentary environment, indicating that the aeolian sedimentary environment is mainly dominated by aeolian sedimentary environment. (4) The surface sediments of scrub dunes were found wholly in the aeolian environment, and the surface sediments of barchan dunes and low bare flat sand were found in both aeolian and fluvial environments.

Key words: shrub-coppice dune, barchan dune, low bare flat sandy land, deposit sediment, particle size characteristics