Contributions of modern Gobi Desert to the Badain Jaran Desert and the Chinese Loess Plateau

A groundbreaking study quantifies the Gobi Desert's contribution to the Badain Jaran Desert (BJD) and the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP), challenging long-held assumptions about its role. Using a combination of field investigations, wind tunnel experiments, and wind field analyses, researchers determined that the modern Gobi Desert erodes at rates between 0.41 to 0.89 mm per year. This erosion rate suggests it would take approximately 80,800 years for the BJD to reach its current dimensions, while the CLP's formation would require an implausibly long 4.5 million years. These findings indicate that the Gobi Desert is a significant sand source for the modern BJD but may have been overestimated as a primary contributor to the loess of the modern CLP, despite its historical importance during the Quaternary period.

Wang, X., Cai, D., Sun, J., Lu, H., Liu, W., Qiang, M., Cheng, H., Che, H., Hua, T., & Zhang, C. (2019). Contributions of modern Gobi Desert to the Badain Jaran Desert and the Chinese Loess Plateau. Scientific Reports, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-37635-y