Abstract:

Soil types and spatial distribution are the scientific basis for the utilization, improvement and protection of soil resources. The Tengger desert is the fourth largest desert in China, however, the soil types and spatial distribution have not been systematically studied. Based on the national soil, Inner Mongolia soil, Gansu soil and Ningxia soil census results, as well as the comprehensive scientific investigation of Shapotou Desert Research and Experiment Station of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the present study conducted a large-scale investigation and verification on the soil types and distribution of Tengger Desert from 2017 to 2019. Remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) were used to detect the soil types of Tengger Desert using the human-machine interactive interpretation method, and the soil classification system and distribution map were completed. There are 13 great group and 30 subgroup in Tengger desert, which belong to 7 order and 10 suborder respectively. Aeolian sandy soil is the most important soil type in Tengger Desert, accounting for 83.65% of the total area of Tengger Desert. The zonal soil are brown pedocals, sierozems, gray desert soil and gray-brown desert soil, with a total area of 4 803.20 km², accounting for 9.42% of the Tengger desert area. Other non-zonal soils include meadow soil, bog soils, solonchaks, desert solonchaks, irrigated desert soils, fluvo-aquic soils, cumulated irrigated soils, and litho soils, with a total area of 3 534.83 km², accounting for 6.93% of the Tengger desert area. There are many kinds of micro domain combinations in soil distribution. This study is the basis of land use and planning in the future.

Key words: Tengger Desert, soil classification system, soil distribution map