Geomorphological Evolution and Palaeoenvironmental Change in the Western Alashan Plateau, China

Updata:01-01-1970

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By:Bingqi Zhu

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30564/jgr.v2i1.1942

Abstract:
Although neotectonic activity is considered to be the main factor of the terrain evolution of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau and its surrounding high-altitude areas, further geomorphological analysis and literature analysis areneeded for the understanding of the geomorphic evolution and the Quaternary environment change of the western area of the Alxa Plateau near the northern Tibet Plateau. The purpose of this study is to investigate the distribution of site-specific geomorphic units of the landforms developed
in the vast topography of Ejina Basin (Western Alxa), in order to identify the geostructural and climatic causes of the geomorphic landscape and its impact on the change of paleoenvironment. At present, the climate and hydrological conditions in Ejina are relatively monotonous and stable. In addition to tectonic dynamic factors, the most widely distributed landform in the basin is climate landform. There are both geomorphological and sedimentological anomalies of Aeolian landforms occurred in the
whole basin, indicating that the underlying surface effect (retention effect) of river (Ejina River) and its related uneven ground and weak wind erosion (deflation) process in the nearby area may be the important factors controlling the formation of Ejina dunes, rather than the arid climate. It is believed that the extensive interaction between the aeolian and fluvial processes is the main mechanism of the regional geomorphic difference in Ejina Basin. According to the comparability of regional geomorphology
and sedimentology, the period of the formation of relic geomorphology in the edge of Ejina Basin can be reasonably attributed to the local glacial maximum of the last glacial. The geomorphic transformation from quasi plain and desert valley to desert plain, the appearance of widely moving sand dunes and the presence of large ancient lake geomorphology all indicate that the drought index of Ejina Basin is increasing on the scale of geomorphic formation. Paleogeomorphological and chronological evidences show that the climatic and hydrological conditions of the basin in the last glacial period and the early Holocene are much better than those
at present. For example, the average annual precipitation in the area before 39-23ka BP is between 60-350 mm (about 36 mm today), but there are large waves in the Holocene. The coexistence of various climates and landforms in Ejina Basin and the resulting geomorphic diversity should be the composite result of various geomorphic processes and surface processes besides glaciation. The low aridity (relative humidity) in the Ejina Region in the late Pleistocene may be the result of the enhancement of the
westerly rain belt and the weakening of the Asian Winter Monsoon in the arid region of Central Asia.
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