Abstract
Studies of modern lake sedimentary systems can guide the research and understanding of ancient lake basins. Qinghai Lake formed in the Miocene is the largest inland-faulted brackish lake in China with different types of terrigenous clastic sediments distributed around the lake and is an ideal location to study modern lake sedimentary systems. Observation of outcrops and exploratory trenches, bathymetry, remote sensing images analysis as well as meteorological data analysis forms the basis of this study. Five types of sedimentary systems were identified around the lake, including alluvial fan – fan delta system located south of the lake, north of Qinghai South Mountain and north of the lake, south of Datong Mountain; Delta system located northwest of the lake; barrier island – lagoon coastal system located northeast of the lake and nonbarrier coastal system in the south of the lake; eolian sedimentary system in the east of the lake; as well as deep lake system. The study revealed modern sedimentary systems are the product of the systematic combination of “wind (wind field) – source (provenance) – lake (lake basin).” The controlling factors include sediment source area lithology, topography, drainage, vegetation, power and direction of winds, coastal currents, and lake-level fluctuations. The characteristics, distribution, formation conditions, and controlling factors of the sedimentary systems provide new ideas and methods for studying the distribution of sand bodies in ancient lacustrine basins.
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Zaixing, J., Chao, L. (2021). Modern Sedimentary Systems of Qinghai Lake. In: Rosen, M.R., Finkelstein, D.B., Park Boush, L., Pla-Pueyo, S. (eds) Limnogeology: Progress, Challenges and Opportunities . Syntheses in Limnogeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66576-0_17
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