Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-94d59 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T09:51:55.029Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Fluvial incision caused irreversible environmental degradation of an ancient city in the Mu Us Desert, China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2020

Penghui Wen
Affiliation:
College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Center for Glacier and Desert Research, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou730000, China
Nai'ang Wang*
Affiliation:
College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Center for Glacier and Desert Research, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou730000, China
Yixin Wang
Affiliation:
College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Center for Glacier and Desert Research, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou730000, China
Yinzhou Huang
Affiliation:
College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Center for Glacier and Desert Research, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou730000, China
Hongyi Cheng
Affiliation:
College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Center for Glacier and Desert Research, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou730000, China
Tonghui He
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory for Restoration and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystem, Ministry of Education/Breeding Base of State Key Laboratory for Preventing Land Degradation and Ecological Restoration, Ningxia University, Yinchuan750021, China
*
*Corresponding author at: College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Center for Glacier and Desert Research, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou730000, China. E-mail address: wangna1962lzu@163.com; wangna@lzu.edu.cn (N. Wang).

Abstract

Ancient cities are excellent spatiotemporal indicators for the study of historical human activities and environmental change. The ancient city of Sanchahe is located at the southern margin of the Mu Us Desert, China. It is an ideal location for studying the complex relationships between historical desertification and human activities. Field observations of the ancient city walls, a well, and a spring, as well as 14C dating, grain size, spatial analysis of archaeological sites, and analyses of historical seismicity, indicated that neotectonics may have contributed to crustal uplift and accelerated fluvial incision of the Wuding River. This rapid incision caused a decline in groundwater levels, which is an important reason for the irreversible environmental degradation around Sanchahe city over the past 800 yr. This study provides new evidence for such environmental degradation and may contribute to a better understanding of historical desertification in the Mu Us Desert.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Ai, C., 2012. Research on the Interaction between Human Economic Activities and Natural Environment Evolution in the Ordos Plateau in the 7th–9th Centuries. [In Chinese.] China Social Sciences Press, Beijing.Google Scholar
Berdugo, M., Delgado-Baquerizo, M., Soliveres, S., Hernández-Clemente, R., Zhao, Y., Gaitán, J.J., Gross, N., et al. , 2020. Global ecosystem thresholds driven by aridity. Science 367, 787790.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bureau of National Cultural Relics, 1998. Atlas of Chinese Cultural Relics—Fascicule of Shaanxi Province. [In Chinese.] Xi'an Cartographic Press, Xi'an.Google Scholar
Bureau of National Cultural Relics, 2003. Atlas of Chinese Cultural Relics—Fascicule of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. [In Chinese.] Xi'an Cartographic Press, Xi'an.Google Scholar
Bureau of National Cultural Relics, 2010. Atlas of Chinese Cultural Relics—Fascicule of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. [In Chinese.] Cultural Relics Press, Beijing.Google Scholar
Bürgi, M., Hersperger, A.M., Schneeberger, N., 2004. Driving forces of landscape change—current and new directions. Landscape Ecology 19, 857868.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, S.-A., Michaelides, K., Grieve, S.W.D., Singer, M.B., 2019. Aridity is expressed in river topography globally. Nature 573, 573577.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, X.L., Fan, T.L., Zhang, F., Fan, Y.X., 2013. Formation of the Yellow River terraces around the Ordos Plateau and its relationship with uplift of Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. [In Chinese with English abstract.] Progress in Geography 32, 595605.Google Scholar
Cui, J.X., Chang, H., 2013. The possible climate impact on the collapse of an ancient urban city in Mu Us Desert, China. Regional Environmental Change 13, 353364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cui, J.X., Chang, H., Cheng, K.Y., Burr, G.S., 2017. Climate change, desertification, and societal responses along the Mu Us Desert margin during the Ming dynasty. Weather, Climate, and Society 9, 8194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deng, H., Shu, S.G., Song, Y.Q., Xing, F.L., 2007. Distribution of sand dunes and sand shifts along the southern fringe of the Mu Us Desert since the Ming Dynasty. Chinese Science Bulletin 52, 31283138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D'Odorico, P., Bhattachan, A., Davis, K.F., Ravi, S., Runyan, C.W., 2013. Global desertification: drivers and feedbacks. Advances in Water Resources 51, 326344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dong, G.R., Gao, S.Y., Jin, J., Li, B.S., 1989. The formation, evolution and cause of the Mu Us Desert in China. Science in China (Series B) 32, 859872.Google Scholar
Dong, G.R., Li, B.S., Gao, S.Y., 1983. The case study of the vicissitude of the Mu Us sandy land since the late Pleistocene according to the Salawusu River strata. [In Chinese with English abstract.] Journal of Desert Research 3, 914.Google Scholar
Eshghizadeh, M., Talebi, A., Dastorani, M.T., Azimzadeh, H.R., 2016. Effect of natural land covers on runoff and soil loss at the hill-slope scale. Global Journal of Environmental Science & Management 2, 125134.Google Scholar
Finnegan, N.J., Rina, S., Seth, F., 2014. A signature of transience in bedrock river incision rates over timescales of 104–107 years. Nature 505, 391394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forman, S.L., Oglesby, R., Webb, R.S., 2001. Temporal and spatial patterns of Holocene dune activity on the Great Plains of North America: megadroughts and climate links. Global & Planetary Change 29, 129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guo, L.C., Xiong, S.F., Wu, J.B., Ding, Z.L., Chen, Y.L., Zhu, L.D., Ye, W., 2018. Human activity induced asynchronous dune mobilization in the deserts of NE China during the late Holocene. Aeolian Research 34, 4955.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
He, T.H., Wang, N.A., 2010. The Environment Change of the Mu Us Desert in the Historical Period. [In Chinese.] People's Publishing House, Beijing.Google Scholar
Holbrook, J., Schumm, S.A., 1999. Geomorphic and sedimentary response of rivers to tectonic deformation: a brief review and critique of a tool for recognizing subtle epeirogenic deformation in modern and ancient settings. Tectonophysics 305, 287306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hosner, D., Wagner, M., Tarasov, P.E., Chen, X., Leipe, C., 2016. Spatiotemporal distribution patterns of archaeological sites in China during the Neolithic and Bronze Age: an overview. Holocene 26, 15761593.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hou, R.Z., 1964. Studying the changes of the Hedong Desert in Ningxia based on the relics of human activities. [In Chinese.] Chinese Science Bulletin 9, 226231.Google Scholar
Hou, R.Z., 1973. Mu Us Desert evolution as indicated by the deserted ancient cities along the Sarah Wusu River. [In Chinese.] Relics 1, 3541.Google Scholar
Hou, Y.J., 2007. The natural environment of the Ordos Plateau and land use during the Ming and Qing dynasties. [In Chinese with English abstract.] Journal of Chinese Historical Geography 22, 2839.Google Scholar
Huang, J.P., Yu, H.P., Guan, X.D., Wang, G.Y., Guo, R.X., 2016. Accelerated dryland expansion under climate change. Nature Climate Change 6, 166171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, Y.Z., Wang, N.A., He, T.H., Cheng, H.Y., Feng, W.Y., Long, H., 2009a. Environmental significance of RSL in ancient city wall: historical desertification of Ordos Plateau, northern China. Climatic Change 93, 5567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, Y.Z., Wang, N.A., He, T.H., Cheng, H.Y., Zhao, L.Q., 2009b. Historical desertification of the Mu Us Desert, northern China: a multidisciplinary study. Geomorphology 110, 108117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, K., Mo, D.W., Wang, H., Zhang, Y.F., 2011. Environmental changes and human activities on both sides of the Sarah Wusu River, in the Song (Xixia) and Yuan dynasties. [In Chinese with English abstract.] Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Pekinensis 47, 466474.Google Scholar
Jia, F.F., Lu, R.J., Gao, S.Y., Li, J.F., Liu, X.K., 2015. Holocene aeolian activities in the southeastern Mu Us Desert, China. Aeolian Research 19, 267274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kochel, R.C., Miller, J.R., 1997. Geomorphic responses to short-term climatic change: an introduction. Geomorphology 19, 171173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Konert, M., Vandenberghe, J., 2010. Comparison of laser grain size analysis with pipette and sieve analysis: a solution for the underestimation of the clay fraction. Sedimentology 44, 523535.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lancaster, N., Yang, X.P., Thomas, D., 2013. Spatial and temporal complexity in Quaternary desert datasets: implications for interpreting past dryland dynamics and understanding potential future changes. Quaternary Science Reviews 78, 301302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liang, P., Yang, X.P., 2016. Landscape spatial patterns in the Maowusu (Mu Us) Sandy Land, northern China and their impact factors. Catena 145, 321333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, B., Li, S.H., Wintle, A., 2008. Overcoming environmental dose rate changes in luminescence dating of waterlain deposits. Geochronometria 30, 3340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, B.S., David, Z.D., Jin, H.L., Zheng, W., Yan, M.C., Wu, S., Zhu, Y.Z., Sun, D.H., 2000. Paleo-monsoon activities of Mu Us Desert, China since 150 ka B.P.—a study of the stratigraphic sequences of the Milanggouwan Section, Salawusu River area. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 162, 116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, B.S., Jin, H.L., Zhu, Y.Z., Dong, G.R., Wen, X.H., 2004. The Quaternary lithostrata in Salawusu River valley and their geochronology. [In Chinese with English abstract.] Acta Sedimentologica Sinica 22, 676682.Google Scholar
Li, H.W., Yang, X.P., 2016. Spatial and temporal patterns of aeolian activities in the desert belt of northern China revealed by dune chronologies. Quaternary International 410, 5868.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, J.C., Wang, Y., Liu, R.T., Zhang, L.S., Han, L.Y., 2019. Strong dune activity and the forcing mechanisms of dune fields in northeastern China during the last 2kyr. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 514, 9297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, S.H., Sun, J.M., Li, B., 2012. Holocene environmental changes in central Inner Mongolia revealed by luminescence dating of sediments from the Sala Us River valley. Holocene 22, 397404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, B., Jin, H.L., Sun, L.Y., Sun, Z., Niu, Q.H., Cai, X.Z., 2016. Geochemical characteristics of Holocene aeolian deposits and their environmental significance in the Mu Us Desert, northern China. Geological Journal 51, 325337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, K., Lai, Z.P., 2012. Chronology of Holocene sediments from the archaeological Salawusu site in the Mu Us Desert in China and its palaeoenvironmental implications. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 45, 247255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, Q.Q., Yang, X.P., 2018. Geochemical composition and provenance of aeolian sands in the Ordos Deserts, northern China. Geomorphology 318, 354374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, X.K., Lu, R.J., Jia, F.F., Chen, L., Li, T.F., Ma, Y.Z., Wu, Y.Q., 2018. Holocene water-level changes inferred from a section of fluvio-lacustrine sediments in the southeastern Mu Us Desert, China. Quaternary International 469, 5867.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, X.K., Lu, R.J., , Z.Q., Du, J., Jia, F.F., Li, T.F., Chen, L., Wu, Y.Q., 2017. Magnetic susceptibility of surface soils in the Mu Us Desert and its environmental significance. Aeolian Research 25, 127134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, Y., Yang, Y., 2012. Spatial distribution of major natural disasters of China in the historical period. [In Chinese with English abstract.] Acta Geographica Sinica 67, 291300.Google Scholar
Loope, D.B., Swinehart, J.B., Mason, J.P., 1995. Dune-dammed paleovalleys of the Nebraska Sand Hills: intrinsic versus climatic controls on the accumulation of lake and marsh sediments. Geological Society of America Bulletin 107, 396406.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lu, H.Y., Miao, X.D., Zhou, Y.L., Mason, J., Swinehart, J., Zhang, J.F., Zhou, L.P., Yi, S.W., 2005. Late Quaternary aeolian activity in the Mu Us and Otindag dune fields (north China) and lagged response to insolation forcing. Geophysical Research Letters 32, L21716.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lu, H.Y., Yi, S.W., Xu, Z.W., Zhou, Y.L., Zeng, L., Zhu, F.Y., Feng, H., et al. , 2013. Chinese deserts and sand fields in Last Glacial Maximum and Holocene Optimum. Chinese Science Bulletin 58, 27752783.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maddy, D., Bridgland, D.R., Green, C.P., 2000. Crustal uplift in southern England: evidence from the river terrace records. Geomorphology 33, 167181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, J.A., Lu, H.Y., Zhou, Y.L., Miao, X., Swinehart, J.B., Liu, Z., Goble, R.J., Yi, S.W., 2009. Dune mobility and aridity at the desert margin of northern China at a time of peak monsoon strength. Geology 37, 947950.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miao, Y.F., Jin, H.L., Cui, J.X., 2016. Human activity accelerating the rapid desertification of the Mu Us Sandy Lands, North China. Scientific Reports 6, 23003.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Molnar, P., Brown, E.T., Burchfiel, B.C., Deng, Q., Feng, X., Li, J., Raisbeck, G.M., Shi, J., Wu, Z., Yiou, F., 1994. Quaternary climate change and the formation of river terraces across growing anticlines on the north flank of the Tien Shan, China. Journal of Geology 102, 583602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Blackwell, P.G., Ramsey, C.B., Buck, C.E., et al. , 2013. IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55, 18691887.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seeger, M., 2007. Uncertainty of factors determining runoff and erosion processes as quantified by rainfall simulations. Catena 71, 5667.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shi, P.J., 1991. Theory and Practise of Research into Geography Environment Changes—Research into Geographical Environment Change during the Late Quaternary Period in the Ordos Region of North China. [In Chinese with English abstract.] Science Press, Beijing.Google Scholar
Shi, W., Dong, S.W., Hu, J.M., 2020. Neotectonics around the Ordos Block, north China: a review and new insights. Earth-Science Reviews (in press). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.102969.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sun, J.M., 2000. Origin of eolian sand mobilization during the past 2300 years in the Mu Us Desert, China. Quaternary Research 53, 7888.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sun, J.M., 2005. Long-term fluvial archives in the Fen Wei Graben, central China, and their bearing on the tectonic history of the India–Asia collision system during the Quaternary. Quaternary Science Reviews 24, 12791286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sun, J.M., Li, S.H., Han, P., Chen, Y.Y., 2006. Holocene environmental changes in the central Inner Mongolia, based on single-aliquot-quartz optical dating and multi-proxy study of dune sands. Palaeogeogry Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 233, 5162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tarasov, P., Jin, G., Wagner, M., 2006. Mid-Holocene environmental and human dynamics in northeastern China reconstructed from pollen and archaeological data. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 241, 284300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, D.S.G., Burrough, S.L., 2012. Interpreting geoproxies of late Quaternary climate change in African drylands: implications for understanding environmental change and early human behaviour. Quaternary International 253, 517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tong, S.J., 2002. Study on the distribution of earthquakes in the terms of time and space during the Tang dynasty. [In Chinese with English abstract.] Collections of Essays on Cniness Historical Geography 17, 5564.Google Scholar
Wagner, M., Tarasov, P., Hosner, D., Fleck, A., Ehrich, R., Chen, X., Leipe, C., 2013. Mapping of the spatial and temporal distribution of archaeological sites of northern China during the Neolithic and Bronze Age. Quaternary International 290–291, 344357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, X.M., Chen, F.H., Dong, Z.B., 2006. The relative role of climatic and human factors in desertification in semiarid China. Global Environmental Change 16, 4857.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, X.M., Chen, F.H., Dong, Z.B., Xia, D.S., 2010. Evolution of the southern Mu Us Desert in north China over the past 50 years: an analysis using proxies of human activity and climate parameters. Land Degradation & Development 16, 351366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, X.M., Cheng, H., Li, H., Lou, J.P., Hua, T., Liu, W.B., Jiao, L.L., Ma, W.Y., Li, D.F., Zhu, B.Q., 2017. Key driving forces of desertification in the Mu Us Desert, China. Scientific Reports 7, 3933.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wen, X.H., Li, B.S., Zheng, Y.M., Yang, Q.J., Niu, D.F., Shu, P.X., 2016. Early Holocene multi-centennial moisture change reconstructed from lithology, grain-size and chemical composition data in the eastern Mu Us desert and potential driving forces. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 459, 440452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, B., Ci, L.J., 2002. Landscape change and desertification development in the Mu Us Sandland, Northern China. Journal of Arid Environments 50, 429444.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xu, Z.W., Lu, H.Y., Yi, S.W., Vandenberghe, J., Mason, J.A., Zhou, Y.L., Wang, X.Y., 2015. Climate-driven changes to dune activity during the Last Glacial Maximum and deglaciation in the Mu Us dune field, north-central China. Earth & Planetary Science Letters 427, 149159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xu, Z.W., Mason, J.A., Xu, C., Yi, S.W., Bathiany, S., Yizhaq, H., Zhou, Y.L., Cheng, J., Holmgren, M., Lu, H.Y., 2020. Critical transitions in Chinese dunes during the past 12,000 years. Science Advances 6, eaay8020.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yang, X.P., Liang, P., Zhang, D.G., Li, H.W., Rioual, P., Wang, X.L., Xu, B., et al. , 2019. Holocene aeolian stratigraphic sequences in the eastern portion of the desert belt (sand seas and sandy lands) in northern China and their palaeoenvironmental implications. Science China Earth Sciences 62, 13021315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, X.P., Scuderi, L.A., Wang, X.L., Scuderi, L.J., Zhang, D.G., Li, H.W., Steven, F., et al. ., 2015. Groundwater sapping as the cause of irreversible desertification of Hunshandake Sandy Lands, Inner Mongolia, northern China. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 112, 702706.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yizhaq, H., Ashkenazy, Y., Tsoar, H., 2007. Why do active and stabilized dunes coexist under the same climatic conditions? Physical Review Letters 98, 188001.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yu, S.Y., Chen, X.X., Liu, X.L., Fang, Z., Guo, J.F., Zhan, S.Y., Fang, H., Chen, F.H., 2018. Ancient water wells reveal a prolonged drought in the lower Yellow River area about 2800years ago. Science Bulletin 63, 13241327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, D., Deng, H., 2019. Historical human activities accelerated climate-driven desertification in China's Mu Us Desert. Science of the Total Environment (in press). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134771.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhang, H.Q., Zhao, W.M., Liu, B., 2007. Mathematical modelling of the relationship between neolithic sites and the rivers in Xi'an (Shaanxi Province, China). Archaeometry 49, 765773.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhao, H., Sheng, Y.W., Li, B., Fan, Y.X., 2016. Holocene environment changes around the Sara Us River, northern China, revealed by optical dating of lacustrine–aeolian sediments. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 120, 184191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhou, Y.L., Lu, H.Y., Zhang, J.F., Mason, J.A., Zhou, L.P., 2010. Luminescence dating of sand–loess sequences and response of Mu Us and Otindag sand fields (north China) to climatic changes. Journal of Quaternary Science 24, 336344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhu, S.G., 1982. Changes of the Chengchuan Lake and the relations with the cultivation in history. [In Chinese.] Agricultural Archeology 1, 1418.Google Scholar