Dust in China

Sources of dust from Chinese deserts
This research was supported by colleagues at Nanjing University in 2013. We used the PI-SWERL to determine the emission potential from a variety of landforms in the Tengger and Mu Us deserts of northern China. Our results demonstrate that sand dunes are potentially large sources of dust. Coppice dunes anchored by shrubs trap a lot of dust-sized sediment. If these dunes become destabilized via climate change, groundwater mining or over grazing, they could be a potent dust source.

Publications:
Sweeney, M.R., Lu, H., Cui, M., Mason, J.A., Feng, H., Xu, Z., 2016, Sand dunes as potential sources of dust in northern China. Science China Earth Sciences, v. 59, p. 760-769. doi: 10.1007/s11430-015-5246-8.

Cui, M., Lu, H., Wiggs, G.F.S., Etyemezian, V., Sweeney, M.R., Xu, Z., 2019, Quantifying the effect of geomorphology on aeolian dust emission potential in northern China. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, v. 44, p. 2872-2884.