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Abstract: Identification of aeolian sand sources occurring in oases of desert environments is of great importance for understanding desertification processes and for developing strategies for sustainable development in arid regions. Combined with wind data and hierarchical cluster analysis, we analyzed the spatial characteristics of major and trace elements of sands sampled at the margins of the Minqin Oasis, northwestern China and its adjacent deserts (the Badain Jaran Desert and the Tengger Desert), with the purpose to identify the aeolian sand sources and their transport pathways in the region. The spatial distribution revealed by bivariate plots of Cr, Ni, Cr/V, Y/Ni, Al, V, Zr, Hf, Zr/Hf and ternary plots of major and trace elements showed that sands between the west (B – Badain Jaran Desert, BM – the dune belt between Badain Jaran and the Minqin Oasis and TNE – dune field located in the northeast margin of the Minqin Oasis) and southeast (TSW – dune field located in the southeast margin of the Minqin Oasis) sides of the oasis have different provenances, while the composition of sands in the Minqin Oasis (M) and in the dune field located in the south margin (TM) is associated with both. The variations in abundance of K, Rb, Ba and Sr were used as indicators of aeolian transport processes. Our results show that while aeolian sands from the Badain Jaran Desert can be transported over mountains and over long distances by northwest winds to the west sides of the Minqin Oasis, they cannot directly reach neither bypass the oasis to the east side. Our interpretation is that the oasis can act as an effective barrier to stop the migration of dune fields both in the Badain Jaran Desert and the Tengger Desert. However, the extensive occurrence of aeolian sands in the Minqin Oasis indicates that its role in preventing desert encroachment should not be overestimated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Rivers draining the sedimentary platform of northern Xinjiang (the center of Asian continent) are characterized by low discharge under a temperate and arid climate. The influence of rock mineralogy, climate, relief and human activity on natural water composition and export as a result of weathering is a major scientific concern both at the local and the global scale. While comprehensive work on the controlling mechanism of chemical weathering has been less carried out in the sedimentary platform of northern Xinjiang. Thus, the effects of climate and rock weathering on the inorganic hydrogeochemical processes are not well quantified at this climatic extreme. To remedy this lack a comprehensive survey has been carried out of the geochemistry of the large, pristine rivers in northern Xinjiang, the Erlqis, Yili, Wulungu, Jingou and numerous lesser streams which has not experienced the pervasive effects of glaciation and subsequent anthropogenic impacts. The scale of the terrain sampled, in terms of area, is comparable to that of the Huanghe and includes a diverse range of geologic and climatic environments. In this paper the chemical fluxes from the stable sedimentary basin of the northern Xinjiang platform will be presented and compared to published results from analogous terrains in the monsoon basins of China and world. Overall, the fluvial geochemistry of northern Xinjiang in westerly climate is similar to that of the Chinese rivers (Huanghe and Yangtze) in the East-Asian monsoon Climate, both in property–property relationships and concentration magnitudes. The range in the chemical signatures of the various tributaries is large; this reflects that lithology exerts the dominant influence in determining the weathering yield from the sedimentary terrains rather than the weathering environment. The effect of different rock weathering ranges from rivers dominated by aluminosilicate weathering, mainly of granites, sandstones and shales, to those bearing the signatures of dissolution of carbonates and evaporites and of continental playa deposits. Carbonates are the general predominant lithology undergoing dissolution particularly within the lesser arid areas. The pCO2 in the study rivers is out of equilibrium with respect to atmospheric pCO2, about up to ∼20 times supersaturated relative to the atmosphere but not to such an extent as the Amazon in the floodplain. A roughly positive relationship is observed between solute concentrations and the drought index (DI) for natural waters in the region, indicating a coupled mountain-basin climate has a direct effect. The relative contributions of end-member solute sources to the total dissolved cations from each watershed have been quantitatively estimated using dissolved load balance models, showing the results as evaporite dissolution>carbonate weathering>silicate weathering>atmospheric input for the whole catchment. The areal total dissolved fluxes range from 0.05 to 2.53×106 mol/km2/yr, 0.02–2.09×106 mol/km2/yr and 0.01–1.04×106 mol/km2/yr in the Yili, Zhungarer and Erlqis, respectively, comparable to those of Chinese and Siberia rivers draining sedimentary platforms, even though they are in drastically different climatic regimes. In general, the fluxes from rivers in sedimentary basins are comparable to those from orogenic zones, but are much higher than in the shield regions. The CO2 consumption by aluminosilicate weathering (0.2–284×103 mol/km2/yr) is much smaller than in active orogenic belts (19–1750×103 mol/km2/yr in similar latitudes and 143–1000×103 mol/km2/yr in the tropical basins), but comparable to those of the Chinese (7–106×103 mol/km2/yr) and Siberia (16–112×103 mol/km2/yr) rivers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Chemical weathering is an integral part of the earth surface processes, whose spatial patterns and controlling factors on continental scale are still not fully understood. Highlands of the Asian continent have been shown having some of the highest observed rates of chemical weathering yet reported. However, the paucity of river gauge data in many of these terrains has limited determination of chemical weathering budget in a continental scale. A dataset of three large watersheds throughout northern Xinjiang in Central Asia is used to empirically identify chemical weathering regimes and interpret the underlying controlling factors. Detailed analysis of major ion ratios and a forward model of mass budget procedure are presented to distinguish the relative significances and contributions of silicate, carbonate weathering and evaporite dissolution. The analytical results show that carbonic acid is the most important weathering agent to the studied watersheds. Silicate weathering contributes, on average, ∼17.8% (molar basis) of total cations on a basin wide scale with an order of Zhungarer>Erlqis>Yili, indicating that silicate weathering, however, does not seem to be intense in the study basins. Evaporite dissolution, carbonate weathering and precipitation input contribute 43.6%, 29.7% and 8.9% of the total dissolved cations on average for the whole catchment, respectively. The three main morphological and hydrological units are reflected in water chemistry. Rivers from the montane areas (recharge area) of the three watersheds are very dilute, dominated by carbonate and silicate weathering, whereas the rivers of piedmont areas as well as the rivers of the sedimentary platform (runoff area) are dominated by carbonate weathering, and rivers of desert plain in the central Zhungarer basin (discharge area) are dominated by evaporite dissolution and are SO4 rich. This spatial pattern indicates that, beside lithology, runoff conditions have significant role on the regional chemical weathering regimes. Chemical weathering processes in the areas appear to be significantly climate controlled, displaying a tight correlation with runoff and aridity. Carbonate weathering are mostly influenced by runoff, which is higher in the mountainous part of the studied basins. The identification of chemical weathering regimes from our study confirmed the weathering potential and complexity of temperate watersheds in arid environment and that additional studies of these terrains are warranted. However, because the dominant weathering reactions in the sedimentary platform of northern Xinjiang are of carbonates and evaporites rather than silicate minerals, and the climatic factors have important role on the rock weathering regimes, we think that weathering at the arid temperate drainage system (Central Asia) is maybe not an important long-term sink for atmospheric CO2, if the future climate has no great change. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]