Skip to main content
Log in

The discovery of surface runoff in the megadunes of Badain Jaran Desert, China, and its significance

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Science China Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Badain Jaran Desert exhibits the greatest difference in altitude of all of the world’s deserts. On the slopes of megadunes in the desert, there are physical and chemical deposits produced by surface runoff. In addition, we have observed rarely-seen infiltration-excess surface runoff in the megadune depressions as well as spring streams at the base of megadunes. We used electron microscopy, energy spectrum analysis, infiltration experiments, moisture content determinations and grain-size analysis to study the mineral and chemical composition of the runoff precipitates, and grain-size of the deposits associated with the runoff, together with the hydrological balance in the megadune area, and the atmospheric precipitation mechanism responsible for groundwater recharge and for supplying water to lakes. The observations of shallow runoff and infiltration-excess surface runoff indicate the occurrence of strong and effective precipitation in summer, which would provide an important source for groundwater recharge. Several lines of evidence, such as the physical and chemical deposits resulting from shallow subsurface runoff, spring streams, infiltration-excess runoff, and gravity capillary water with a moisture content of 3–6%, demonstrate that precipitation reaches the base of the megadunes through infiltration and subsequently becomes groundwater. The chemical deposits, such as newly-formed calcite and gypsum, and gray-black physical deposits, as well as different stages in the development of fan-shaped landforms resulting from shallow subsurface runoff, indicate that groundwater recharge in the area is the result of long-term precipitation, rather than intermittent individual major rainfall events. Fine sand layers with a low infiltration capacity lead to subsurface runoff emerging at the ground surface. Five factors play an important role in maintaining a positive water balance and in replenishing groundwater via rainfall: effective rainfall as a water source, the high infiltration capacity of the sands enabling rainfall to rapidly become capillary water in the dunes, low evapotranspiration rates due to the sparse vegetation, the fact that the depth of the sand layer influenced by evaporation is shallow enough to maximize the deep infiltration of rainfall, and rapidly-moving gravity capillary water in the sandy dunes. These five factors together constitute a mechanism for groundwater recharge from rainfall, and explain the origin of the groundwater and lakes in the area. Our findings represent a significant advance in research on the hydrological cycle, including groundwater recharge conditions and recharge mechanisms, in this desert region.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Chen J S, Li L, Wang J Y, Barry D A, Sheng X F, Gu W Z, Zhao X, Chen L. 2004. Water resources: Groundwater maintains dune landscape. Nature, 432: 459–460

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dong Z B, Qian G Q, Lv P, Hu G Y. 2013. Investigation of the sand sea with the tallest dunes on Earth: China’s Badain Jaran Sand Sea. Earth-Sci Rev, 120: 20–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dong Z B, Wang T, Wang X M. 2004. Geomorphology of the megadunes in the Badain Jaran Desert. Geomorphology, 60: 191–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enright N J, Miller B P, Akhter R. 2005. Desert vegetation and vegetationenvironment relationships in Kirthar National Park, Sindh, Pakistan. J Arid Environ, 61: 397–418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feng Q, Cheng G D. 1999. Moisture distribution and movement in sandy lands of China (in Chinese). Acta Pedol Sin, 36: 225–236

    Google Scholar 

  • Gates J B, Edmunds W M, Ma J Z, Scanlon B R. 2008. Estimating groundwater recharge in a cold desert environment in northern China using chloride. Hydrogeol J, 16: 893–910

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gu W Z, Chen J S, Wang J, Zhao X, Xie M, Lu J J, Seiler K P. 2004. Challenge from the appearance of vadose water within the surface layer of megadunes, Badain-jaran dune desert, Inner Mongolia (in Chinese). Adv Water Sci, 15: 695–699

    Google Scholar 

  • Guo H D, Liu H Y, Wang X, Shao Y, Sun Y. 2000. Subsurface old drainage detection and paleoenvironment analysis using spaceborne radar images in Alxa Plateau. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 43: 439–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo K, Dong X J, Liu Z M. 2000. Characteristics of soil moisture content on sand dunes in Mu US Sandy grassland: Why arte misia ordosica declines on old fixed sand dunes (in Chinese). Acta Phytoecol Sin, 24: 275–279

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann J. 1996. The lakes in the SE Part of Badain Jaran Desert, their limnology and geochemistry. Geowissenschaften, 8: 275–278

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu W F, Wang N A, Zhao L Q, Ning K, Zhang X H, Sun J. 2015. Water-heat exchange over a typical lake in Badain Jaran Desert, China (in Chinese). Progr Geography, 34: 1061–1071

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jakel D. 1996. The Badain Jaran Desert: Its origin and development. Geowissenschaften, 14: 272–274

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu X Y, Chen J S, Sun X X. 2010. Application of chloride tracer method to study replenishment ratio of precipitation in desert (in Chinese). Tran Chin Soc Agric Eng, 26(Suppl): 146–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y, Fu B J, Lü Y H, Gao G Y, Wang S, Zhou J. 2013. Linking vegetation cover patterns to hydrological responses using two process-based pattern indices at the plot scale. Sci China Earth Sci, 56: 1888–1898

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu Y, Wang N A, Li G P, Li Z L, Dong C Y, Lu J W. 2010. Spatial distribution of lakes hydrochemical types in Badain Jaran Desert (in Chinese). J Lake Sci, 22: 774–782

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma R H, Yang G S, Duan H T, Jiang J H, Wang S M, Feng X Z, Li A N, Kong F X, Xue B, Wu J L, Li S J. 2011. China’s lakes at present: Number, area and spatial distribution. Sci China Earth Sci, 54: 283–289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma J Z, Zhou X Y, Wang Y Q, Gates J B. 2011. Spatial distribution of soil moisture at unsaturated zone in megadunes, southeast of Badian Jaran Desert (in Chinese). J Desert Res, 31: 1365–1372

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma J Z, Li D, Zhang J W, Edmunds W M, Prudhomme C. 2003. Groundwater recharge and climatic change during the last 1000 years from unsaturated zone of SE Badain Jaran Desert. Chin Sci Bull, 48: 1469–1474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma J Z, Ding Z, Gates J B, Su Y. 2008. Chloride and the environmental isotopes as the indicators of the groundwater recharge in the Gobi Desert, northwest China. Environ Geol, 55: 1407–1419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma N, Wang N A, Zhao L Q, Zhang Z Y, Dong C Y, Shen S P. 2014. Observation of mega-dune evaporation after various rain events in the hinterland of Badain Jaran Desert, China. Chin Sci Bull, 59: 162–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marion G M, Schlesinger W H, Fonteyn P J. 1985. A regional model for soil CaCO3 deposition in Southwestern Desert. Soil Sci, 139: 468–481

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ren M D, Wang N L. 1981. Introduction to Modern Sedimentary Environment (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press. 8–16, 119–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Warner T T. 2004. Desert Meteorology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 44–106

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wang N A, Ma N, Chen H B, Chen X L, Dong C Y, Zhang Z Y. 2013. A preliminary study of precipitation characteristics in the hinterland of Badain Jaran desert (in Chinese). Adv Water Sci, 24: 153–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang N A, Ning K, Li Z L, Wang Y X, Jia P, Ma L. 2016. Holocene high lake-levels and pan-lake period on Badain Jaran Desert. Sci China Earth Sci, 59: 1633–1641

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang X P, Li X R, Kang E S, Zhang J G, Zhou H Y, Yang S X, Lei Z D. 2003. The infiltration and redistribution of precipitation in revegetated sand dunes in the Tengger Desert, Shapotou, China (in Chinese). Acta Ecol Sin, 23: 1234–1241

    Google Scholar 

  • Wen J, Su Z B, Zhang T T, Tian H, Zeng Y J, Liu R, Kang Y, van der Velde R. 2014. New evidence for the links between the local water cycle and the underground wet sand layer of a mega-dune in the Badain Jaran Desert, China. J Arid Land, 6: 371–377

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu Y, Wang N A, Zhao L Q, Zhang Z Y, Chen L, Lu Y, Lü X N, Chang J L. 2014. Hydrochemical characteristics and recharge sources of Lake Nuoertu in the Badain Jaran Desert. Chin Sci Bull, 59: 886–895

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shao T J, Zhao J B, Dong Z B. 2015. Grain-size distribution of the aeolian sediment and its effect on the formation and growth of mega-dunes in the Badain Jaran Desert, north-west China. Zeit für Geo, 59: 273–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shao T J, Zhao J B, Zhou Q, Dong Z B, Ma Y D. 2012. Recharge sources and chemical composition types of groundwater and lake in the Badain Jaran Desert, northwestern China. J Geogr Sci, 22: 479–496

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xiong Y, Li Q K. 1987. Chinese Soil (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press. 67–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang W B, Tang J N, Liang H R, Dang H Z, Li W. 2014. Deep soil water infiltration and its dynamic variation in the shifting sandy land of typical deserts in China. Sci China Earth Sci, 57: 1816–1824

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang W Z, Shao M A. 2002. Study on Soil Moisture of Loess Plateau (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press. 84–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang X P, Ma N, Dong J F, Zhu B Q, Xu B, Ma Z B, Liu J Q. 2010. Recharge to the inter-dune lakes and Holocene climatic changes in the Badain Jaran Desert, Western China. Quat Res, 73: 10–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang X P, Scuderi L, Liu T, Paillou P, Li H W, Dong J F, Zhu B Q, Jiang W W, Jochems A, Weissmann G. 2011. Formation of the highest sand dunes on Earth. Geomorphology, 135: 108–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan P F, Ding G D, Wang W W, Wang X Y, Shi H S. 2008. Characteristics of rainwater infiltration and evaporation in Mu Us Sandland (in Chinese). Sci Soil Water Conserv, 6: 23–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Z Y, Wang N A, Ma N, Wu Y. 2014. Lake area changes and the main causes in the hinterland of Badain Jaran Desert during 1973–2010, China. Sci Cold Arid Regions, 6: 22–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao J B, Gu J, Du J. 2008. Climate and soil moisture environment during development of the fifth palaeosol in Guanzhong Plain. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 51: 665–676

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao J B, Ma Y D, Xing S, Dong Z B. 2011. Sand layer water permeability of Tengger Desert in Zhongwei City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (in Chinese). Bull Soil Water Conserv, 31: 12–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu B Q, Yang X P. 2010. The origin and distribution of soluble salts in the sand seas of northern China. Geomorphology, 123: 232–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu Y W, Chen Q M, Liu M X, Liu K. 2008. Spatiotemporal distribution of moisture content in sand dunes of the unirrigated forestation along the southern marginal zone of Gurbantunggut Desert (in Chinese). Pratacultural Sci, 25: 6–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu Z D, Wu Z, Liu S. 1980. Introduction to China Desert (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press. 1–7, 68–75

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Major Projects of International Cooperation of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41210002 & 40672108) and the Cheung Kong Scholars Programme of the Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. 801813).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to YanDong Ma.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhao, J., Ma, Y., Luo, X. et al. The discovery of surface runoff in the megadunes of Badain Jaran Desert, China, and its significance. Sci. China Earth Sci. 60, 707–719 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-016-9019-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-016-9019-2

Keywords

Navigation