Saline dust storms and their ecological impacts in arid regions
Jilili Abuduwaili, DongWei LIU, GuangYang WU
1 Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China; 2 Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Saline dust storms and their ecological impacts in arid regions
Jilili Abuduwaili, DongWei LIU, GuangYang WU
1 Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China; 2 Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
摘要 In many arid and semiarid regions, saline playas represent a significant source of unconsolidated sediments available for aeolian transport, and severe saline dust storms occur frequently due to human disturbance. In this study, saline dust storms are reviewed systematically from the aspects of concept, general characteristics, conditions of occurrence, distribution and ecological impact. Our researches showed that saline dust storms are a kind of chemical dust storm originating in dry lake beds in arid and semiarid regions; large areas of unconsolidated saline playa sediments and frequent strong winds are the basic factors to saline dust storm occurrence; there are differentiation characteristics in deposition flux and chemical composition with wind-blown distance during saline dust storm diffusion; and saline dust storm diffusion to some extent increases glacier melt and results in soil salinization in arid regions. An understanding of saline dust storms is important to guide disaster prevention and ecological rehabilitation.
Abstract: In many arid and semiarid regions, saline playas represent a significant source of unconsolidated sediments available for aeolian transport, and severe saline dust storms occur frequently due to human disturbance. In this study, saline dust storms are reviewed systematically from the aspects of concept, general characteristics, conditions of occurrence, distribution and ecological impact. Our researches showed that saline dust storms are a kind of chemical dust storm originating in dry lake beds in arid and semiarid regions; large areas of unconsolidated saline playa sediments and frequent strong winds are the basic factors to saline dust storm occurrence; there are differentiation characteristics in deposition flux and chemical composition with wind-blown distance during saline dust storm diffusion; and saline dust storm diffusion to some extent increases glacier melt and results in soil salinization in arid regions. An understanding of saline dust storms is important to guide disaster prevention and ecological rehabilitation.
基金资助: Xinjiang Natural Science Foundation of China (200821162); National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (2009CB825101); National Natural Science Foundation of China (40671170)
