Characteristics of blown sand activity in the Kumtagh Desert

The area of the Kumtagh Desert is small,but there are different types of sand dunes,such as trellis dune,complicated sand sheet,pyramidal dune and the so-called feathery dune.The feathery dune is the most special type of sand dune in Kumtagh Desert and almost is a synonym for Kumtagh Desert.At present,dune types and morphology are mainly recognized on remote sensing images and with theory analysis.Recent field investigation into the desert led to new recognition on blown sand geomorphology.This paper attempts to use five meteorological stations wind data to study the characteristics of Kumtagh Desert wind regime and blown sand activities.The result indicated as follows:(1) in the desert,wind directions in different regions are very complicated,it can generally be divided into two types of wind direction regions.In the northwest and north regions of desert,wind direction conclude two directions,but in the southeast and south regions of desert,wind direction conclude three directions.(2) Blown sand activities in the desert are very strong,most region of the desert belongs to high wind energy and has the sand drift potential of 200-400 VU.(3)The landform types of sand dunes in Kumtag Desert coincide with wind direction and resultant drift direction.The resultant drift directions(RDD) are different in the desert.In the northwest and north of the desert,RDD is northwest direction.In the Duobagou region,RDD is southwest direction,and in the south of the desert,RDD is southeast direction.Values of RDP/DP in the desert are between 0.3 and 0.8.Annual sand transport is between 0.53 t/m2 and 1.14 t/m2.