Why are there so many lakes in the Taklimakan Desert in Xinjiang?

In fact, these lakes are just accumulated water, and the accumulated water is mainly formed by local heavy rains, melting snow, and the release of ecological water.

I have to say that anyone who sees this situation will be shocked. There are lakes in the world's second mobile desert, and this topic has become a hot search some time ago. Later, some people said that the climate in the Han and Tang Dynasties even Loulan Oasis is about to reappear, no wonder, this phenomenon is really rare, and the scene is very spectacular.

Source/CCTV Weibo screenshot

Everyone knows what the desert looks like. The sense of cascading is very obvious. In this case, it blends with the blue lake water. , the desert seems to be alive. With the existence of the lake, the sand dunes stick together like a ball. This scenery is very strange and has a sense of beauty. See if you feel this way in the picture below. It is very intoxicating.

I think many people should know about the Taklimakan Desert. It is located in the center of the Tarim Basin in the south of Xinjiang. It is more than 1,000 kilometers long from east to west and almost 400 kilometers wide from north to south. The total area is more than 330,000 square kilometers. It is the largest in my country. The desert is the second mobile desert in the world. In Uyghur, it means "a place where you can't get out".

We all know that the biggest characteristic of deserts is lack of rainfall. The average annual precipitation in the Taklimakan Desert does not exceed 100 mm, and the lowest is only four or five millimeters, but the average evaporation can exceed 2,500 mm. Even if there is water, it will basically evaporate.

So, the appearance of lakes in the Taklimakan Desert will definitely make people feel strange. What is the reason?

Let’s take a look at the experts’ explanation. By analyzing the monitoring data from the Urumqi Meteorological Satellite Ground Station and conducting on-the-spot investigations at the Bazhou Meteorological Bureau, the experts clarified the hotly discussed “desert lakes” on the Internet. "The approximate location of the beautiful photo is located in the Luobu Village Scenic Area in Yuli County. This scenic area is mostly a blend of water and sand. Some "lakes" along the way were formed by the release of ecological water from the Tarim River Basin to the Populus euphratica forest. Others were formed after floods occurred since September. Stagnant water formed by overflowing water sources.

Lake in the village of Luobu people in Yuli County? Picture/Li Zhihong

This summer in Xinjiang is the hottest since 1961, which has caused many extreme high temperature weather in the Tarim River Basin. According to relevant personnel from the local climate center, since the flood season this year, the temperature in southern Xinjiang has continued to rise. In summer, the average number of high-temperature days reached 29.7 days, 7.6 days more than normal. For this reason, the maximum height of the zero-degree layer in Hotan, Kashgar and other places broke the historical extreme value for the same period. According to monitoring data from the Urumqi Meteorological Satellite Ground Station, in early May this year there was more snow in many mountainous areas in southern Xinjiang than in the same period in previous years, but by mid-September it had decreased by about 40-80%; in August, the average precipitation in southern Xinjiang was lower than in previous years. During the same period, there was an increase of 105%, especially in the Kashgar region, where 10 counties and cities all experienced excessive amounts.

Remote sensing monitoring map of water regime in the lower reaches of the Tarim River

Many people must know about the Tarim River. Even if they don’t understand it, they must have heard of it. Its northern branch basically comes from the Tianshan Mountains, and its southern branch basically comes from the Tianshan Mountains. Mainly from the Kunlun Mountains. High temperatures caused snow to melt, and continuous rainfall caused exceeding warning floods in various tributaries of the river. According to the official website of the Ministry of Water Resources, from late May to late September this year, the main stream of the Tarim River experienced intermittent flooding for 80 days. Among them, the upstream flow increased by 150% compared with the same period of the year; the water levels of 25 rivers in the main and tributary rivers exceeded the warning level. It was even more serious on August 19, with the water level of the entire main stream exceeding the warning level. Eventually, the Tarim River overflowed in the Taklimakan Desert.

A large area of ??the desert is covered by floods. Looking from a distance or from a high place, there are indeed many lakes in the desert. After the above analysis, it should be clear to everyone that the so-called "desert lakes" are actually accumulated water formed by local heavy rains, melting snow, and the release of ecological water. However, the accumulated water has not yet penetrated into the desert, and a lake scene has been formed in the low-lying areas. In essence, It's not actually a lake.

In fact, from a climate perspective, the emergence of lakes in the Taklimakan Desert is a sign. Everyone knows the greenhouse effect. It is for this reason that the average surface temperature in our country has increased very rapidly in the past few decades. The temperature rises approximately 0.23°C every 10 years. The northwest region is heating up faster, about 0.3°C every 10 years. As the temperature rises, rainfall in the northwest continues to increase. For example, in Xinjiang, it increases by about 10 mm every 10 years.

In the 20th century, the average annual rainfall in southern Xinjiang was about 50 mm. In the 21st century, the average annual rainfall was about 70 mm. In 2016, Xinjiang's average annual precipitation reached 247 millimeters, an increase of more than 100 millimeters compared to this century's average.

In fact, in July 2021, a huge flood occurred in the Yuqi area of ????the Taklimakan Desert. 300 square kilometers of the desert were flooded. Sinopec’s Northwest Oilfield was affected by it, and many equipment were soaked in water. The reason why floods occur is because of heavy rains that lasted for many days in the Dinar Mountains of the Tianshan Mountains. The heavy rains were accompanied by melting of ice and snow. Melting snow and rain eventually caused flooding, and the desert area itself is very flat.

In 2022, the precipitation in the middle and upper reaches of the Tarim River will be several percent higher than in previous years. For example, in the Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang, a rare heavy rain occurred in May, with the rainfall reaching 58.8% in one day. mm. In August and September, there is constant rainfall in the Tarim River Basin.

Therefore, there are signs that there are many lakes in the Taklimakan Desert.

What do you think of this phenomenon? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area.