The Taklimakan Desert located in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region, the second largest desert on the globe, could
have been came into being some 4.5 million years ago, according to
recent research.
The research was conducted jointly by Prof. Zheng Hongbo from the
Shanghai-based Tongji University, and noted scientists Chen
Huizhong and Cao Junji from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).A
paper on the research was published in the CAS magazine, the
Chinese Science Bulletin.
Researchers studied sediments from the southern tip of the Tarim
Basin and detected loess from the Taklimakan Desert, which is in
the heart of Tarim Basin and occupies an area of 337,600 sq km.
There has been no universally-accepted theory about the formation
of the Taklimakan Desert and specific details are still beyond
reach, according to experts.
Researchers have collected thousands of rock samples in Yecheng
county in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and tested them to
ascertain the direction of the Earth's magnetic field when the
rocks were formed, according to Prof. Zheng Hongbo.
Since sand and dust were blown and shifted to regions on the fringe
of the Taklimakan Desert and remained there for ages, information
pertaining to the rock formation has helped scientists to conclude
that the Taklimakan Desert might have been shaped some 4.5 million
years ago.
(Xinhua News
Agency August 6, 2002)