Utilizing sediment grain size characteristics to assess the effectiveness of clay-sand barriers in reducing aeolian erosion in Minqin desert area, China

doi:10.1007/s40333-024-0075-2

Journal of Arid Land

2024, Vol. 16

Issue (5): 668-684 DOI: 10.1007/s40333-024-0075-2

Research article

Utilizing sediment grain size characteristics to assess the effectiveness of clay-sand barriers in reducing aeolian erosion in Minqin desert area, China

SONG Dacheng¹^,², ZHAO Wenzhi¹^,³^,^*(

), LI Guangyu², WEI Lemin³, WANG Lide¹^,², YANG Jingyi¹, WU Hao², MA Quanlin¹

¹College of Forestry, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
²Gansu Hexi Corridor Forest Ecosystem National Research Station, Gansu Desert Control Research Institute, Lanzhou 730070, China
³Linze Inland River Basin Research Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China

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Abstract

The clay-sand barriers in Minqin desert area, China, represent a pioneering windbreak and sand fixation project with a venerable history of 60 a. However, studies on evaluating the long-term effectiveness of clay-sand barriers against aeolian erosion, particularly from the perspective of surface sediment grain size, are limited and thus insufficient to ascertain the protective impact of these barriers on regional aeolian activities. This study focused on the surface sediments (topsoil of 0-3 cm depth) of clay-sand barriers in Minqin desert area to explain their erosion resistance from the perspective of surface sediment grain size. In March 2023, six clay-sand barrier sampling plots with clay-sand barriers of different deployment durations (1, 5, 10, 20, 40, and 60 a) were selected as experimental plots, and one control sampling plot was set in an adjacent mobile sandy area without sand barriers. Surface sediment samples were collected from the topsoil of each sampling plot in the study area in April 2023 and sediment grain size characteristics were analyzed. Results indicated a predominance of fine and medium sands in the surface sediments of the study area. The deployment of clay-sand barriers cultivated a fine quality in grain size composition of the regional surface sediments, increasing the average contents of very fine sand, silt, and clay by 30.82%, 417.38%, and 381.52%, respectively. This trend became markedly pronounced a decade after the deployment of clay-sand barriers. The effectiveness of clay-sand barriers in erosion resistance was manifested through reduced wind velocity, the interception of sand flow, and the promotion of fine surface sediment particles. Coarser particles such as medium, coarse, and very coarse sands predominantly accumulated on the external side of the barriers, while finer particles such as fine and very fine sands concentrated in the upwind (northwest) region of the barriers. By contrast, the contents of finest particles such as silt and clay were higher in the downwind (southeast) region of the sampling plots. For the study area, the deployment of clay-sand barriers remains one of the most cost-effective engineering solutions for aeolian erosion control, with sediment grain size parameters serving as quantitative indicators for the assessment of these barriers in combating desertification. The results of this study provide a theoretical foundation for the construction of windbreak and sand fixation systems and the optimization of artificial sand control projects in arid desert areas.

Key words： clay-sand barriers sediment grain size grain size distribution aeolian erosion windbreak and sand fixation Minqin desert area

Received: 15 January 2024 Published: 31 May 2024

Corresponding Authors: ^*ZHAO Wenzhi (E-mail: zhaowzh@lzb.ac.cn)

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	SONG Dacheng
	ZHAO Wenzhi
	LI Guangyu
	WEI Lemin
	WANG Lide
	YANG Jingyi
	WU Hao
	MA Quanlin

Cite this article:

SONG Dacheng, ZHAO Wenzhi, LI Guangyu, WEI Lemin, WANG Lide, YANG Jingyi, WU Hao, MA Quanlin. Utilizing sediment grain size characteristics to assess the effectiveness of clay-sand barriers in reducing aeolian erosion in Minqin desert area, China. Journal of Arid Land, 2024, 16(5): 668-684.

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http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-024-0075-2 OR http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2024/V16/I5/668

Fig. 1 Wind direction rose of the study area from 2018 to 2022. N, north; NE, northeast; E, east; SE, southeast; S, south; SW, southwest; W, west; NW, northwest. Data were from the Gansu Minqin National Studies Station for Desert Steppe Ecosystem, and all data were monitored at wind speeds greater than 0.5 m/s.

Table 1 Detailed information of the sampling plots

Fig. 2 Photographs showing the control sampling plot (a), clay-sand barrier sampling plots (b and c), and three sampling points within an clay-sand barrier sampling plot (d)

Table 2 Grading standards of selected grain size parameters

Sampling plot		Sediment grain size distribution (%)
Deployment duration (a)	Position	Clay (<0.002 mm)	Silt (0.002- 0.050 mm)	Very fine sand (0.050- 0.100 mm)	Fine sand (0.100- 0.250 mm)	Medium sand (0.250- 0.500 mm)	Coarse sand (0.500- 1.000 mm)	Very coarse sand (>1.000 mm)
0	/	0.51±0.05	2.44±0.07	10.17±0.21	50.28±0.07	29.33±0.22	7.28±0.10	0.00±0.00
1	Upwind	0.18±0.00^Eb	2.51±0.02^Ec	7.57±0.10^Eb	53.78±0.51^Aa	31.27±0.44^ABa	4.69±0.22^Da	0.00±0.00^Aa
	Middle	4.29±0.02^Ba	19.92±0.54^Bb	8.77±0.54^Da	44.10±1.55^Ab	21.05±0.66^Ec	1.81±1.87^Da	0.06±0.11^Ba
	Downwind	4.35±0.41^Ba	21.66±1.07^Ca	6.91±0.35^Db	38.36±2.48^Ac	24.74±0.55^Cb	3.91±1.79^CDa	0.07±0.12^Ba
5	Upwind	1.28±0.04^Ca	4.57±0.13^Da	20.23±0.49^Ba	45.77±0.97^Ba	18.61±0.69^Dc	9.00±0.79^Cc	0.54±0.18^Ab
	Middle	1.04±0.02^Cb	4.36±0.06^Ea	14.01±0.32^Bb	35.72±0.76^Cb	24.05±0.12^Db	17.87±0.60^Bb	2.95±0.65^Aa
	Downwind	0.89±0.11^Dc	3.55±0.26^Eb	10.25±0.66^Cc	26.31±1.54^Ec	27.94±0.24^Ba	27.54±1.66^Aa	3.52±0.68^Aa
10	Upwind	2.03±0.05^Bb	8.84±0.04^Bb	17.93±0.26^Ca	45.36±0.38^Ba	22.68±0.32^Cb	3.16±0.47^Db	0.00±0.00^Aa
	Middle	0.98±0.03^CDc	6.11±0.11^Cc	10.63±0.32^Cb	39.63±0.67^Bb	35.72±0.56^Ca	6.92±0.57^Ca	0.00±0.00^Ba
	Downwind	3.33±0.02^Ca	15.16±0.34^Da	18.62±0.89^Ba	35.43±1.84^Bc	20.83±0.40^Dc	6.35±2.19^Ca	0.28±0.49^Ba
20	Upwind	0.96±0.06^Da	5.89±0.32^Ca	10.35±0.67^Da	34.91±1.84^Dc	31.61±0.34^Ac	15.87±2.29^Aa	0.40±0.44^Aa
	Middle	0.97±0.03^CDa	5.00±0.16^DEb	7.05±0.27^Eb	42.76±0.38^Aa	37.37±0.54^Bb	6.85±0.30^Cc	0.00±0.00^Ba
	Downwind	0.70±0.02^DEb	3.53±0.08^Ec	6.72±0.12^Db	38.56±0.79^Ab	39.10±0.40^Aa	11.39±0.65^Bb	0.00±0.00^Ba
40	Upwind	0.17±0.01^Ec	3.68±0.11^Dc	10.35±0.26^Da	43.29±0.88^Ca	30.39±0.05^Bb	11.97±1.05^Bb	0.16±0.17^Aa
	Middle	0.88±0.08^Db	5.48±0.25^CDb	4.82±0.11^Fc	27.14±0.65^Dc	39.88±0.36^Aa	21.58±1.02^Aa	0.22±0.13^Ba
	Downwind	7.03±0.19^Aa	25.45±0.68^Ba	9.67±0.17^Cb	31.78±0.25^Cb	21.09±0.88^Dc	4.97±0.48^CDc	0.00±0.00^Ba
60	Upwind	4.45±0.26^Ab	27.56±1.52^Ab	24.14±1.33^Ab	27.22±0.67^Eb	11.52±0.89^Ea	4.28±1.93^Da	0.82±1.43^Aa
	Middle	5.81±0.18^Aa	36.63±1.08^Aa	28.29±1.02^Aa	21.09±0.72^Ec	4.73±0.62^Fc	2.68±1.69^Da	0.77±1.33^Ba
	Downwind	4.54±0.13^Bb	27.33±0.95^Ab	23.07±0.78^Ab	33.86±0.95^BCa	8.01±0.50^Eb	2.35±1.30^Da	0.85±1.48^Ba

Table 3 Surface sediment grain size distribution at different positions of each clay-sand barrier sampling plot

Fig. 3 Variations in mean grain size (a-c), sorting (d-f), skewness (g-i), and kurtosis (j-l) of surface sediments in the upwind (northwest), middle, and downwind (southeast) regions of different clay-sand barrier sampling plots. Note that the values for the control sampling plot in the mobile sandy area without clay-sand barrier (deployment duration of 0 a) have no differences in positions.

Fig. 4 Relationship between the sorting and mean grain size (a), the skewness and mean grain size (b), and the kurtosis and mean grain size (c) of surface sediments in different sampling plots. The dashed lines in the diagram represents the category lines for each grain size parameter.

Fig. 5 Grain size frequency distribution curves (a, c, e, and g) and cumulative grain size frequency distribution curves (b, d, f, and h) of surface sediments at all positions and in the upwind (northwest), middle, and downwind (southeast) regions of different sampling plots. D-value means the difference between values in each clay-sand barrier sampling plot and mobile sand area.


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