Lake area information in the Badain Jaran Desert in 1973, 1990, 2000, and 2010 was obtained by visual interpretation and water index analysis of remote sensing images, based on the spatial and temporal characteristics of lake area changes during 37 years. Results indicated that the nttmber of lakes declined from 94 to 82 and the total surface area was reduced by 3.69 km2 during 1973-2010. The desert lake area reduced by different degrees in different periods, but this occurred most rapidly during 1973-1990. According to the statistics of lake area changes, lake area decreases mainly occurred in the lakes with areas less than 0.2 km2, while the areas of lakes greater than 0.9 km2 only fluctuated. The changes of lake areas were probably due to changes in the quantity of underground water supplies rather than the effects of local climate change or human factors.
Historical desertification of the Mu Us Sandy Land is linked to both environmental changes and anthropogenic activities. This paper reports on an analysis of grain size parameters as indicative of such changes in the southwestern area of the Mu Us Sandy Land. Combined with analysis of chronologies and historical records, our results indicate that Beidachi Lake and a nearby season- al river have retreated continuously in history and that sand dunes appeared at approximately the end of the Ming dynasty. This study sheds new light on the understanding of spatial-temporal changes of the interior Mu Us Sandy Land in history and has great significance in revealing environmental changes of the interior region of the Mu Us Sandy Land.
YinZhou HuangNaiAng WangHongYi ChengNing MaTingTing Lai
