A mechanism for the origin and development of the large-scale dunefield on the right flank of the lower reach of Laoha River, Northeast China

By viewing satellite imagery, a striking large-scale dunefield can be clearly perceived, with a size of nearly 63 km long and 11 km wide, and trending NE–SW, on the right flank of the lower Laoha River, Northeast China. By means of remote sensing imagery analysis and field observation as well as a comparison with a small-scale dunefield on the right flank of the lower Xiangshui River, analogous to the case of the lower Laoha River, this paper presents a new mechanism for its origin and development. The results show that:(1) the large-scale dunefield bears a tile-style framework overwhelmingly composed of transverse barchanoid ridges perpendicular to the predominant winds, and inlaid diverse blowouts.(2) The small-scale dunefield, referred to as a primary structural unit of the large one, is typical of an incipient dunefield, following the same rules of evolution as the larger.(3) A succession of barchanoid ridge chains can steadily migrate downwind in much the same manner as surface wave propagation in air or water stimulated by an incised valley, and ultimately tend to bear roughly the same wavelength and amplitude under stable climate and hydrologic regimes.(4) The first ridge chain acquires its sand source substantially from the downwind escarpments exposing the loose Quaternary sandy sediments to the air, while the ensuing ridges derive their sands dominantly from in situ deflation of the underlain Quaternary loose sandy sediments in blowouts, partly from the upwind ridges through northern elongated horns. Theoretically, the sands from riparian escarpments can be transported by wind to the downwind distal end of a dunefield after sufficient long duration.(5) The lower Laohahe region experienced probably three significant climatic changes in the past, corresponding to the three active dune belts, suggesting that once a large-scale dunefield occurs, it is nearly impossible to be completely stabilized, at least in its central portions. At present, seasonal shrinkage and stagnation of the lower Laoha River, wid