Local Circulation Maintains the Coexistence of Lake-dune Pattern in the Badain Jaran Desert

Kecun Zhang; Diwen Cai; Yinhuan Ao; Zhishan An; Zichen Guo

doi:10.1038/srep40238

Local Circulation Maintains the Coexistence of Lake-dune Pattern in the Badain Jaran Desert

Sci Rep. 2017 Jan 5:7:40238. doi: 10.1038/srep40238.

Authors

Kecun Zhang¹, Diwen Cai^{1

2}, Yinhuan Ao¹, Zhishan An¹, Zichen Guo^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China.
² University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.

Abstract

Previous studies proposed various hypotheses to the formation of the mega-dunes and water recharge of the lakes in the Badain Jaran Desert but left the coexistence of lake-dune pattern unsolved. This research found that the local circulation, generated from the differences of thermodynamic properties and the unique landscape settings between lakes and mega-dunes, can be applied to interpret the pattern.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't