Spatial and temporal characteristics of dust storms in China and its surrounding regions, 1960-1999: Relations to source area and climate

Compilation and analysis of the past 40 years of dust storm reports from Ch ina allow estimation of the meteorological conditions of dust storms, dust transport routes, and eolian source regions. Our results indicate that dust storms in China are highly associated with the frontal systems and the Mon golian cyclonic depression. The spatial distribution of dust storms indicat es that there are two dominant source regions of eolian dust raised from Ch ina and its surrounding regions. The major source is the gobi deserts in Mo ngolia and northern China. Another source region is the Taklimakan Desert i n western China. However, dust entrained from the two sources makes differe nt contributions to downwind deposition regions. In most cases, dust materi als entrained from the gobi deserts of Mongolia and China can only be entra ined to an elevation of < 3000 m. They are the dominant source materials of the eolian sediments in the Loess Plateau, southeastern China, offshore re gions, and the near North Pacific Ocean. Dust materials from the Taklimakan Desert can be entrained to an elevation of > 5000 m and then transported o ver long distances (similar to 5000 km) by the westerlies. These materials are not the main sources of the dust deposited in the proximal region, such as the Chinese Loess Plateau, but they are important sources of the eolian fraction of pelagic sediment in the remote North Pacific Ocean.