Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Holocene aeolian stratigraphic sequences in the eastern portion of the desert belt (sand seas and sandy lands) in northern China and their palaeoenvironmental implications

  • Research Paper
  • Special Topic: China since the Last Glacial Maximum
  • Published:
Science China Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper presents the environmental history and its responses to palaeoclimatic changes since the start of the Holocene in the eastern portion of the desert belt (sand seas and sandy lands) in northern China by comparing the aeolian sandpalaeosol sequences and their palaeoclimatic proxies. The optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages of the aeolian sandpalaeosol sedimentary sequences and a series of palaeoenvironmental proxies show that: (1) The large-scale dune landscape currently in the Kubuqi Sand Sea was formed during the Holocene in general; and the palaeosol was generally developed during the period of 4–2 ka, indicating conditions favorable for vegetation growth, soil development, and organic carbon accumulation due to increased precipitation or effective moisture and weakened aeolian activities; the large-scale expansion of dunes in the recent 2 ka is closely linked to human activities. The variable discharge of the Yellow River with diversions for irrigation may have resulted in a more consistent supply of aeolian particles for dune field expansion. (2) The dune landscape of the Hunshandake Sandy Land was likely formed around 12 ka, and before this, the western part of the Hunshandake Sandy Land would have been covered by a single large lake; it was obviously wetter than today in the sandy land during the period of 9.6–3 ka and the palaeosols were developed at the same time. But the aeolian activities have not been completely dormant in this long-lasting wetter epoch; because the Holocene wetter period was likely time-transgressive across the region. (3) The palaeosol of the Hulunbuir Sandy Land began to develop as early as 14.5 ka, probably continuing until the last 2 ka. The palaeosol development of various dune fields in the eastern portion of the desert belt (sand seas and sandy lands) in northern China is spatially heterogeneous, and even the palaeosol development time in different locations within each sandy land is inconsistent. During the middle Holocene (especially the 7.5–3.5 ka), all the sandy lands were stabilized in general and the intensity of aeolian activities was significantly weakened. The number of palaeoenvironmental records in the eastern portion of the desert belt (sand seas and sandy lands) in northern China has increased rapidly in the past decade, but the amount of published data still does not match the vast extent of the dune fields. It does require much more in-depth palaeoenvironmental studies for a full understanding of the relationship between aeolian activities and climate change in northern China.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

  • Berger A, Loutre M F. 1991. Insolation values for the climate of the last 10 million years. Quat Sci Rev, 10: 297–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chase B. 2009. Evaluating the use of dune sediments as a proxy for palaeoaridity: A southern African case study. Earth-Sci Rev, 93: 31–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen F, Wu W, Zhu Y, Holmes J A, Madsen D B, Jin M, Oviatt C G. 2003. A mid-Holocene drought interval as evidenced by lake desiccation in the Alashan Plateau, Inner Mongolia, China. Chin Sci Bull, 48: 1401–1410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cherlet M, Hutchinson C, Reynolds J, Hill J, Sommer S, von Maltitz G. 2018. World Atlas of Desertification. 3rd ed. Luxembourg: Publication Office of the European Union

    Google Scholar 

  • Chinese Cultural Bureau. 2003. The Atlas of Chinese Cultural Sites: Inner Mongolia (in Chinese). Xi’an: Xi’an Cartographic Publishing House

  • Cohen T J, Nanson G C, Larsen J R, Jones B G, Price D M, Coleman M, Pietsch T J. 2010. Late Quaternary aeolian and fluvial interactions on the Cooper Creek Fan and the association between linear and sourcebordering dunes, Strzelecki Desert, Australia. Quat Sci Rev, 29: 455–471

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cui H, Liu H, Yao X. 1997. The finding of a palaeo-spruce timber in Hunshandak sandy land and its palaeoecological significance. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 40: 599–604

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dai A. 2013. Increasing drought under global warming in observations and models. Nat Clim Change, 3: 52–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans R D, Koyama A, Sonderegger D L, Charlet T N, Newingham B A, Fenstermaker L F, Harlow B, Jin V L, Ogle K, Smith S D, Nowak R S. 2014. Greater ecosystem carbon in the Mojave Desert after ten years exposure to elevated CO2. Nat Clim Change, 4: 394–397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fan Y X, Chen X L, Fan T L, Jin M, Liu J B, Chen F H. 2013. Sedimentary and OSL dating evidence for the development of the present Hobq desert landscape, northern China. Sci China Earth Sci, 56: 2037–2044

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fick S E, Hijmans R J. 2017. WorldClim 2: New 1-km spatial resolution climate surfaces for global land areas. Int J Climatol, 37: 4302–4315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folk R L, Ward W C. 1957. Brazos River bar: A study in the significance of grain size parameters. J Sediment Res, 27: 3–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forman S L, Sagintayev Z, Sultan M, Smith S, Becker R, Kendall M, Marìn L. 2008. The twentieth-century migration of parabolic dunes and wetland formation at Cape Cod National Sea Shore, Massachusetts, USA: Landscape response to a legacy of environmental disturbance. Holocene, 18: 765–774

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fryberger S, Dean G. 1979. Dune forms and wind regime. In: McKee E, ed. A Study of Global Sand Seas, Washington: United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 1052. 137–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Gong Z, Li S H, Sun J, Xue L. 2013. Environmental changes in Hunshandake (Otindag) sandy land revealed by optical dating and multi-proxy study of dune sands. J Asian Earth Sci, 76: 30–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goudie A. 2002. Great Warm Deserts of the World: Landscapes and Evolution. New York: Oxford University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Guérin G, Mercier N, Adamiec G. 2011. Dose-rate conversion factors: Update. Ancient TL, 29: 5–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Guo L, Xiong S, Yang P, Ye W, Jin G, Wu W, Zhao H. 2018. Holocene environmental changes in the Horqin desert revealed by OSL dating and δ13C analyses of palaeosols. Quat Int, 469: 11–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo Z, Ren X, Lv H, Gao X, Liu W, Wu H, Zhang C, Zhang J. 2016. Effect of palaeoclimate changes and human adaptation—Progress on “Impact and Adaptation” group of CAS strategic priority research program “climate change: Carbon budget and relevant issues” (in Chinese with English abstract). Bull Chin Acad Sci, 31: 142–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Halfen A F, Lancaster N, Wolfe S. 2016. Interpretations and common challenges of aeolian records from North American dune fields. Quat Int, 410: 75–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heller F, Liu X, Liu T, Xu T. 1991. Magnetic susceptibility of loess in China. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 103: 301–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hesse P P. 2016. How do longitudinal dunes respond to climate forcing? Insights from 25 years of luminescence dating of the Australian desert dunefields. Quat Int, 410: 11–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang J, Yu H, Guan X, Wang G, Guo R. 2016. Accelerated dryland expansion under climate change. Nat Clim Change, 6: 166–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC. 2013. Climate Change 2013—The Physical Science Basis: Working Group I Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

  • Kocurek G. 1998. Aeolian system response to external forcing factors—A sequence stratigraphic view of the Saharan region. In: Alsharan S, Glennie W, Whittle L, Kendall C, eds. Quaternary Deserts and Climatic Change. Rotterdam: A.A. Balkema. 327–337

    Google Scholar 

  • Lancaster N, Yang X, Thomas D. 2013. Spatial and temporal complexity in Quaternary desert datasets: Implications for interpreting past dryland dynamics and understanding potential future changes. Quat Sci Rev, 78: 301–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lancaster N, Wolfe S, Thomas D, Bristow C, Bubenzer O, Burrough S, Duller G, Halfen A, Hesse P, Roskin J, Singhvi A, Tsoar H, Tripaldi A, Yang X, Zárate M. 2016. The INQUA Dunes Atlas chronologic database. Quat Int, 410: 3–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li S H, Sun J M, Zhao H. 2002. Optical dating of dune sands in the northeastern deserts of China. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 181: 419–429

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li S H, Sun J. 2006. Optical dating of Holocene dune sands from the Hulun Buir Desert, northeastern China. Holocene, 16: 457–462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li H, Yang X. 2014. Temperate dryland vegetation changes under a warming climate and strong human intervention—With a particular reference to the district Xilin Gol, Inner Mongolia, China. Catena, 119: 9–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li H, Yang X. 2016. Spatial and temporal patterns of aeolian activities in the desert belt of northern China revealed by dune chronologies. Quat Int, 410: 58–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li X, Dong G. 1998. Preliminary studies on the age and formation of the Hunshandake Sandy Land (in Chinese with English abstract). J Desert Res, 18: 16–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Li Y, Wang Y G, Houghton R A, Tang L S. 2015. Hidden carbon sink beneath desert. Geophys Res Lett, 42: 5880–5887

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liang P, Yang X. 2016. Landscape spatial patterns in the Maowusu (Mu Us) Sandy Land, northern China and their impact factors. Catena, 145: 321–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu B, Jin H, Sun L, Sun Z, Zhang C. 2017. Grain size and geochemical study of the surface deposits of the sand dunes in the Mu Us desert, northern China. Geol J, 52: 1009–1019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu J, Fa K, Zhang Y, Wu B, Qin S, Jia X. 2015. Abiotic CO2 uptake from the atmosphere by semiarid desert soil and its partitioning into soil phases. Geophys Res Lett, 42: 5779–5785

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Q, Yang X. 2018. Geochemical composition and provenance of aeolian sands in the Ordos Deserts, northern China. Geomorphology, 318: 354–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu H, Miao X, Zhou Y, Mason J, Swinehart J, Zhang J, Zhou L, Yi S. 2005. Late Quaternary aeolian activity in the Mu Us and Otindag dune fields (north China) and lagged response to insolation forcing. Geophys Res Lett, 32: L21716

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu H Y, Yi S W, Xu Z W, Zhou Y L, Zeng L, Zhu F Y, Feng H, Dong L N, Zhuo H X, Yu K F, Mason J, Wang X Y, Chen Y Y, Lu Q, Wu B, Dong Z B, Qu J J, Wang X M, Guo Z T. 2013. Chinese deserts and sand fields in Last Glacial Maximum and Holocene optimum. Chin Sci Bull, 58: 2775–2783

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maroulis J C, Nanson G C, Price D M, Pietsch T. 2007. Aeolian-fluvial interaction and climate change: Source-bordering dune development over the past ~100 ka on Cooper Creek, central Australia. Quat Sci Rev, 26: 386–404

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mason J A, Lu H, Zhou Y, Miao X, Swinehart J B, Liu Z, Goble R J, Yi S. 2009. Dune mobility and aridity at the desert margin of northern China at a time of peak monsoon strength. Geology, 37: 947–950

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muhs D R, Holliday V T. 2001. Origin of late Quaternary dune fields on the Southern High Plains of Texas and New Mexico. Geol Soc Am Bull, 113: 75–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray A S, Wintle A G. 2000. Luminescence dating of quartz using an improved single-aliquot regenerative-dose protocol. Radiat Meas, 32: 57–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray A S, Wintle A G. 2003. The single aliquot regenerative dose protocol: Potential for improvements in reliability. Radiat Meas, 37: 377–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pye K, Tsoar H. 2009. Aeolian Sand and Sand Dunes. Berlin: Springer

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Qiang M, Jin Y, Liu X, Song L, Li H, Li F, Chen F. 2016. Late Pleistocene and Holocene aeolian sedimentation in Gonghe Basin, northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: Variability, processes, and climatic implications. Quat Sci Rev, 132: 57–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Randall JS, Sharon A. 2005. Soils: Genesis and Geomorphology. New York: Cambridge University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes E J. 2011. Optically stimulated luminescence dating of sediments over the past 200000 years. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci, 39: 461–488

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stauch G. 2016. Multi-decadal periods of enhanced aeolian activity on the north-eastern Tibet Plateau during the last 2 ka. Quat Sci Rev, 149: 91–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stauch G, IJmker J, Pötsch S, Zhao H, Hilgers A, Diekmann B, Dietze E, Hartmann K, Opitz S, Wünnemann B, Lehmkuhl F. 2012. Aeolian sediments on the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau. Quat Sci Rev, 57: 71–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stone R. 2008. Have desert researchers discovered a hidden loop in the carbon cycle? Science, 320: 1409–1410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun J, Li S H, Han P, Chen Y. 2006. Holocene environmental changes in the central Inner Mongolia, based on single-aliquot-quartz optical dating and multi-proxy study of dune sands. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 233: 51–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas D S G, Bailey R M. 2017. Is there evidence for global-scale forcing of Southern Hemisphere Quaternary desert dune accumulation? A quantitative method for testing hypotheses of dune system development. Earth Surf Process Landforms, 42: 2280–2294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas D S G, Knight M, Wiggs G F S. 2005. Remobilization of southern African desert dune systems by twenty-first century global warming. Nature, 435: 1218–1221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). 1997. World Atlas of Desertification. 2nd ed. London: UNEP

  • Vandenberghe J, Zhijiu C, Liang Z, Wei Z. 2004. Thermal-contractioncrack networks as evidence for late-Pleistocene permafrost in Inner Mongolia, China. Permafrost Periglac Process, 15: 21–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang B. 1991. Historical geography study of the Kubuqi Desert (in Chinese). J Desert Res, 11: 33–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams M. 1994. Some implications of past climatic changes in Australia. T Roy Soc South Aust, 118: 17–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams M. 2014. Climate Change in Deserts: Past, Present and Future. New York: Cambridge University Press

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wohlfahrt G, Fenstermaker L F, Arnone III J A. 2008. Large annual net ecosystem CO2 uptake of a Mojave Desert ecosystem. Glob Change Biol, 14: 1475–1487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yan Y, Xu X, Xin X, Yang G, Wang X, Yan R, Chen B. 2011. Effect of vegetation coverage on aeolian dust accumulation in a semiarid steppe of northern China. Catena, 87: 351–356

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang L H, Zhou J, Lai Z P, Long H, Zhang J R. 2010. Lateglacial and Holocene dune evolution in the Horqin dunefield of northeastern China based on luminescence dating. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 296: 44–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang L H, Wang T, Zhou J, Lai Z P, Long H. 2012. OSL chronology and possible forcing mechanisms of dune evolution in the Horqin dunefield in northern China since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quat Res, 78: 185–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang L H, Wang T, Long H, He Z. 2017. Late Holocene dune mobilization in the Horqin dunefield of northern China. J Asian Earth Sci, 138: 136–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang X. 2000. Landscape evolution and precipitation changes in the Badain Jaran Desert during the last 30000 years. Chin Sci Bull, 45: 1042–1047

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang X, Eitel B. 2016. Understanding the interactions between climate change, landscape evolution, surface processes and tectonics in the earth system: What can the studies of Chinese deserts contribute? Acta Geol Sin-Engl Ed, 90: 1444–1454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang X, Liu T, Xiao H. 2003. Evolution of megadunes and lakes in the Badain Jaran Desert, Inner Mongolia, China during the last 31,000 years. Quat Int, 104: 99–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang X P, Preusser F, Radtke U. 2006. Late Quaternary environmental changes in the Taklamakan Desert, western China, inferred from OSLdated lacustrine and aeolian deposits. Quat Sci Rev, 25: 923–932

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang X, Dong J, White P D. 2006a. The key role of water resources management in ecological restoration in western China. Geogr Res, 44: 146–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang X, Zhu B, Wang X, Li C, Zhou Z, Chen J, Wang X, Yin J, Lu Y. 2008. Late Quaternary environmental changes and organic carbon density in the Hunshandake Sandy Land, eastern Inner Mongolia, China. Glob Planet Change, 61: 70–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang X, Scuderi L, Paillou P, Liu Z, Li H, Ren X. 2011. Quaternary environmental changes in the drylands of China—A critical review. Quat Sci Rev, 30: 3219–3233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang X P, Wang X L, Liu Z T, Li H W, Ren X Z, Zhang D G, Ma Z B, Rioual P, Jin X D, Scuderi L. 2013. Initiation and variation of the dune fields in semi-arid China-with a special reference to the Hunshandake Sandy Land, Inner Mongolia. Quat Sci Rev, 78: 369–380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang X P, Scuderi L A, Wang X L, Scuderi L J, Zhang D G, Li H W, Forman S, Xu Q H, Wang R C, Huang W W, Yang S X. 2015. Groundwater sapping as the cause of irreversible desertification of Hunshandake Sandy Lands, Inner Mongolia, northern China. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 112: 702–706

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang X P, Forman S, Hu F G, Zhang D G, Liu Z T, Li H W. 2016. Initial insights into the age and origin of the Kubuqi sand sea of northern China. Geomorphology, 259: 30–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao H, Yanchou Lu H, Yin J. 2007. Optical dating of Holocene sand dune activities in the Horqin sand-fields in inner Mongolia, China, using the SAR protocol. Quat Geochronol, 2: 29–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao L, Jin H, Li C, Cui Z, Chang X, Marchenko S S, Vandenberghe J, Zhang T, Luo D, Guo D, Liu G, Yi C. 2014. The extent of permafrost in China during the local Last Glacial Maximum (LLGM). Boreas, 43: 688–698

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang D, Yang X. 2016. Numerical simulation on sand dune morphodynamic: A case study of ReSCAL model (in Chinese with English Abstract). Quat Sci, 37: 368–379

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang H, Ma Y, Peng J, Li J, Cao J, Qi Y, Chen G, Fang H, Mu D, Pachur H J, Wünnemann B, Feng Z. 2002. Palaeolake and palaeoenvironment between 42 and 18 ka BP in Tengger Desert, NW China. Chin Sci Bull, 47: 1946–1956

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou Y L, Lu H Y, Joseph M, Miao X D, James S, Ronald G. 2008. Optically stimulated luminescence dating of aeolian sand in the Otindag dune field and Holocene climate change. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 51: 837–847

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu Z, Wu Z, Liu S, Di X. 1980. An Outline of Chinese Deserts (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu Z, Liu S. 1981. Desertification Processes and their Control in Northern China (in Chinese). Beijing: China Forestry Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu Z, Zou B, Di X, Wang K, Chen G, Zhang J. 1988. Desertification and rehabilitation-Case study in Horqin Sandy Land. Lanzhou: Institute of Desert Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. 113

    Google Scholar 

  • Zomer R, Trabucco A, van Straaten O, Bossio D. 2006. Carbon, land and water: A global analysis of the hydrologic dimensions of climate change mitigation through afforestation/reforestation. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute. 44

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Sincere thanks are extended to Academician GUO Zhengtang and the staffs of the project office for their much-appreciated help and supervisions. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript. We authors would like to dedicate the work to Academician SUN Shu, a giant of Earth Sciences, who sadly passed away while we wrote this article. We deeply cherish our memory of the great mentor. This work was supported by the CAS Strategic Priority Research Program (Grant No. XDA05120502) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41672182).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, School of Earth Sciences, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Xiaoping Yang, Deguo Zhang & Hongwei Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Peng Liang, Patrick Rioual, Bing Xu & Zhibang Ma

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Peng Liang

  4. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, 710061, China

    Xulong Wang

  5. Institute of Chinese Historical Geography, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

    Qianqian Liu

  6. School of Geography, Taiyuan Normal University, Taiyuan, 030619, China

    Xiaozong Ren

  7. College of Teachers’ Education, Yichun University, Yichun, 336000, China

    Fangen Hu

  8. Department of Geology, School of Earth Sciences, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Yuxin He, Gang Rao & Ninghua Chen

Authors
  1. Xiaoping Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peng Liang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Deguo Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Hongwei Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Patrick Rioual
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Xulong Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Bing Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Zhibang Ma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Qianqian Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Xiaozong Ren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Fangen Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Yuxin He
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Gang Rao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Ninghua Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiaoping Yang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yang, X., Liang, P., Zhang, D. et al. Holocene aeolian stratigraphic sequences in the eastern portion of the desert belt (sand seas and sandy lands) in northern China and their palaeoenvironmental implications. Sci. China Earth Sci. 62, 1302–1315 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-018-9304-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-018-9304-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation