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A study on historical location and evolution of Lop Nor in China with maps and DEM

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Abstract

Lop Sea, located at the east end of the Tarim Basin, Northwest China, dried up permanently, which is the terminal lake of the Tarim River. Lop Sea was considered as the lake basin of Lop Nor since Quaternary. However, the possibility that Lop Nor was away from the Lop Sea in historical time is crucial to be discussed to interpret the proxy records in sediment profiles. To obtain a general view of the evolution of Lop Nor and Lop Sea in a historical period, several approaches were adopted in this paper. First, the Qianlong Thirteen-Row Atlas, an ancient imperial atlas of the Qing Dynasty, which was completed around 1760, indicated that the Tarim River formed a relatively large lake at its modern upstream region. Second, a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with a 10-m spatial resolution and a relative precision of 0.42 m was derived from TanDEM-X/TerraSAR-X satellite image pairs using the interferometry method, which was verified using ICESat-GLAS laser footprints and a local DEM acquired by a drone. Finally, based on the spatial analysis of historical documents, expedition reports, sediment profiles and archaeological evidence, it can be deduced that the lacustrine deposition was discontinued in the Lop Sea. Six episodes in the evolutionary history of the drainage system in eastern Tarim Basin were summarized. The proved depositional condition variations could be used for future interpretation of proxy records in sediment. The high-accurate DEM provided a reference for the location of further fieldwork in the Lop Sea. The method proposed in this paper may be efficient for the research of inland lakes or rivers in global arid regions.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42071313, 41671353, U1303285, 41571363, 41431174, 61471358, 41201346, 41301394, 41301464).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Target Microwave Properties, Deqing Academy of Satellite Applications, Deqing, 313200, China

    Tingting Zhang, Yun Shao, Yuyang Geng & Huaze Gong

  2. Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100094, China

    Tingting Zhang & Yun Shao

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

    Yuyang Geng

  4. China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    Lan Yang

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  1. Tingting Zhang
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  2. Yun Shao
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Correspondence to Yun Shao.

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Zhang, T., Shao, Y., Geng, Y. et al. A study on historical location and evolution of Lop Nor in China with maps and DEM. J. Arid Land 13, 639–652 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-021-0099-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-021-0099-9

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