The Kumtagh Sand Sea in the hyper-arid region of northwestern China
remained largely unexplored until the last decade. It deserves study due to its
significance in understanding the evolution of the arid environments in
northwestern China, and even central Asia. Aeolian geomorphology in the sand
sea has received unprecedented study in the last decade. Encouraging advances have
been made in types of aeolian landforms, geological outlines, wind systems,
the formation of aeolian landforms, several unique aeolian landforms, aeolian
geomorphic regionalization, aeolian geomorphological heritages and tourism
development, and aeolian sand hazards and their control. These advances expand
our knowledge of aeolian geomorphology. |