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Journal of Desert Research ›› 2021, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (3): 127-136.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2021.00034

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Composition of geochemical elements and its implications for long-ridge yardang in the northwestern Qaidam Basin China

Xuemin Gao1(), Xin Qu2, Meng Wang2, Siyue Zhang2, Yaoyao Zhang2, Jiyan Li2()   

  1. 1.Department of Tourism Management,Jinzhong University,Jinzhong 030619,Shanxi,China
    2.School of Geography Science,Taiyuan Normal University,Jinzhong 030619,Shanxi,China
  • Received:2021-02-08 Revised:2021-03-22 Online:2021-05-26 Published:2021-05-26
  • Contact: Jiyan Li

Abstract:

Yardangs are enigmatic landforms, whose formation and evolution processes are still not fully understood. Yardang strata bear abundant information on the change of regional environment and provenance for the development of yardangs. This paper selected the long-ridge yardang in the northwestern Qaidam Basin as research object, and investigated the chemical weathering of yardang strata and their implications for the transportation of sand-sized grains in the Qaidam Basin by analyzing the composition of geochemical elements. The results indicated that the major elements were dominated by SiO2, CaO, Al2O3, MgO and Na2O, while the contents of Cl, Sr, Ba and Zr were in dominant for the trace elements in yardang sediments. Compared to the average content of chemical elements for the upper continental crust, the enrichment of major elements such as CaO and MgO, and trace elements such as Cl and As was in a high degree. The mean value of CIA was 39.03 for long-ridge yardang sediments, and they quasi were parallel to the A-CN line and behind the connecting line between plagioclase and potassium feldspar in the A-CN-K tertiary diagram, which indicated that the chemical weathering of long-ridge yardang sediments in the Qaidam Basin was in the early stage of losing Na and Ca. Ratios of characteristic elements demonstrated that the abundant fine-grained particles in the yardang bodies were the source of drift sands in the yardang corridors. These drift sands were exposed by the weathering and erosion of exogenic agents and accumulated in the yardang corridors. And they can developed into sand dunes when they blocked by obstacles during their transportation in the downwind direction. However, as to whether the yardangs were the source of downwind loess still need further investigation.

Key words: yardang, chemical weathering, geochemical element, Qaidam Basin

CLC Number: