Author(s): Wenqiang Wu; Qiuwen Chen; Wenwen Li
Linked Author(s): Qiuwen Chen
Keywords: Recovery ancient channel; Tarim River; Ecosystem; Groundwatermodel
Abstract: The Tarim River had two main streams in history. Now only the North Tarim River has flows. It was recorded that when the South Tarim River had flows, the ecosystem of the lower reaches could be maintained. Due to the zero flow of the South Tarim River since 100 years ago, the ecosystems in the lower reaches of Tarim River significantly degraded, and the Lop Nur Lake became The Lop Nur Gobi, a life forbidden zone. Since 50 years ago, people built dam on the old channel of Hotan River, the main stream of the south Tarim River, and then the downstream of the Tarim River lost flow. At present, the vegetation in the downstream of the Tarim River is near extinction. The spacing between the South and North streams are about 80～100km, and the bottom elevation of the South stream is tens of meters higher than the North. In this study, a groundwater model was developed and applied assuming that the South Tarim River and the Keriya River have flows. The simulated results showed that three belts of the Tarim basin would benefit from the flows. The first belt is along the Keriya River because the water seepage could irrigate the vegetation nearby where there is flow in the channel. The second belt is between the South and North streams. The seepage raised the groundwater level and a large area of vegetations can be revival. The most important phenomenon is that a lot of seepage from the South Tarim River flows laterally into the lower reach of the Tarim River, which reduced the evaporation and thus improved water use efficiency.
Year: 2009