Kangkang Li , Xiaoguang Qin , Bing Xu , Lei Zhang , Guijin Mu , Yong Wu , Xiaohong Tian , Dong Wei , Chunxue Wang , Huiqiu Shao , Hongjuan Jia , Zhiqiang Yin , Wen Li , Haoze Song , Yongchong Lin , Yingxin Jiao , Jing Feng , Jiaqi Liu
{"title":"中国西北塔里木盆地(罗布泊)东部超干旱地区的环境与人类历史:保护自然和文化景观的关键审查","authors":"Kangkang Li , Xiaoguang Qin , Bing Xu , Lei Zhang , Guijin Mu , Yong Wu , Xiaohong Tian , Dong Wei , Chunxue Wang , Huiqiu Shao , Hongjuan Jia , Zhiqiang Yin , Wen Li , Haoze Song , Yongchong Lin , Yingxin Jiao , Jing Feng , Jiaqi Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.04.001","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The sustainability of dry regions has become a key issue for global development. Their natural and cultural landscapes are facing threats resulting from ongoing global changes. This paper presents an overview of geomorphological, climatic-environmental, and archaeological studies in the hyper-arid eastern Tarim Basin (Lop Nur), northwest China, a world-renowned crossroad for early east-west communications, to provide a scientific foundation for sustaining its nature-culture heritage. The late Quaternary landscape changes in the Lop Nur region are characterised by cycles between oases and yardang deserts, shaping the extensive aeolian landform. Archaeological evidence suggests humans’ adaptation and resilience to today what are viewed as inhospitable environments since the late Pleistocene by exploiting the diverse range of oasis resources, movement, and encouraging adjacent populations to diversify their subsistence base. Settlement- and regional-scale deterioration of available water resources, affected by environmental and climatic dynamics, caused the eventual abandonment. Periodic occupation and abandonment in the Lop Nur region accompanying oasis-desert/yardang environment cycles provide important lessons for present-day policymakers to contextualise the relationship between human communities and fragile ecosystems. The open-air sites in the Lop Nur region represent the best-preserved oasis-desert civilisation, suffering cultural history losses. We propose the urgent necessity to establish a transdisciplinary database, construct a master chronological framework of settlement, and integrate the culture-nature heritage within the network of the Silk Roads. The scientific management of river networks is also critical for protecting those riverine cultural relics. The site- and group-level management of heritage needs to be adapted to the projected changes in climate and environment.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Environmental and human history in the hyper-arid eastern Tarim Basin (Lop Nur), northwest China: A critical review for sustaining the natural and cultural landscapes\",\"authors\":\"Kangkang Li , Xiaoguang Qin , Bing Xu , Lei Zhang , Guijin Mu , Yong Wu , Xiaohong Tian , Dong Wei , Chunxue Wang , Huiqiu Shao , Hongjuan Jia , Zhiqiang Yin , Wen Li , Haoze Song , Yongchong Lin , Yingxin Jiao , Jing Feng , Jiaqi Liu\",\"doi\":\"10.1016/j.quaint.2024.04.001\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<div><p>The sustainability of dry regions has become a key issue for global development. Their natural and cultural landscapes are facing threats resulting from ongoing global changes. This paper presents an overview of geomorphological, climatic-environmental, and archaeological studies in the hyper-arid eastern Tarim Basin (Lop Nur), northwest China, a world-renowned crossroad for early east-west communications, to provide a scientific foundation for sustaining its nature-culture heritage. The late Quaternary landscape changes in the Lop Nur region are characterised by cycles between oases and yardang deserts, shaping the extensive aeolian landform. Archaeological evidence suggests humans’ adaptation and resilience to today what are viewed as inhospitable environments since the late Pleistocene by exploiting the diverse range of oasis resources, movement, and encouraging adjacent populations to diversify their subsistence base. Settlement- and regional-scale deterioration of available water resources, affected by environmental and climatic dynamics, caused the eventual abandonment. Periodic occupation and abandonment in the Lop Nur region accompanying oasis-desert/yardang environment cycles provide important lessons for present-day policymakers to contextualise the relationship between human communities and fragile ecosystems. The open-air sites in the Lop Nur region represent the best-preserved oasis-desert civilisation, suffering cultural history losses. We propose the urgent necessity to establish a transdisciplinary database, construct a master chronological framework of settlement, and integrate the culture-nature heritage within the network of the Silk Roads. The scientific management of river networks is also critical for protecting those riverine cultural relics. The site- and group-level management of heritage needs to be adapted to the projected changes in climate and environment.</p></div>\",\"PeriodicalId\":49644,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Quaternary International\",\"volume\":null,\"pages\":null},\"PeriodicalIF\":1.9000,\"publicationDate\":\"2024-04-16\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Quaternary International\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"89\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618224001186\",\"RegionNum\":3,\"RegionCategory\":\"地球科学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q3\",\"JCRName\":\"GEOGRAPHY, PHYSICAL\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Quaternary International","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618224001186","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"GEOGRAPHY, PHYSICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
Environmental and human history in the hyper-arid eastern Tarim Basin (Lop Nur), northwest China: A critical review for sustaining the natural and cultural landscapes
The sustainability of dry regions has become a key issue for global development. Their natural and cultural landscapes are facing threats resulting from ongoing global changes. This paper presents an overview of geomorphological, climatic-environmental, and archaeological studies in the hyper-arid eastern Tarim Basin (Lop Nur), northwest China, a world-renowned crossroad for early east-west communications, to provide a scientific foundation for sustaining its nature-culture heritage. The late Quaternary landscape changes in the Lop Nur region are characterised by cycles between oases and yardang deserts, shaping the extensive aeolian landform. Archaeological evidence suggests humans’ adaptation and resilience to today what are viewed as inhospitable environments since the late Pleistocene by exploiting the diverse range of oasis resources, movement, and encouraging adjacent populations to diversify their subsistence base. Settlement- and regional-scale deterioration of available water resources, affected by environmental and climatic dynamics, caused the eventual abandonment. Periodic occupation and abandonment in the Lop Nur region accompanying oasis-desert/yardang environment cycles provide important lessons for present-day policymakers to contextualise the relationship between human communities and fragile ecosystems. The open-air sites in the Lop Nur region represent the best-preserved oasis-desert civilisation, suffering cultural history losses. We propose the urgent necessity to establish a transdisciplinary database, construct a master chronological framework of settlement, and integrate the culture-nature heritage within the network of the Silk Roads. The scientific management of river networks is also critical for protecting those riverine cultural relics. The site- and group-level management of heritage needs to be adapted to the projected changes in climate and environment.
期刊介绍:
Quaternary International is the official journal of the International Union for Quaternary Research. The objectives are to publish a high quality scientific journal under the auspices of the premier Quaternary association that reflects the interdisciplinary nature of INQUA and records recent advances in Quaternary science that appeal to a wide audience.
This series will encompass all the full spectrum of the physical and natural sciences that are commonly employed in solving Quaternary problems. The policy is to publish peer refereed collected research papers from symposia, workshops and meetings sponsored by INQUA. In addition, other organizations may request publication of their collected works pertaining to the Quaternary.