The Taklamakan Desert is the largest desert in China and the fifth largest desert in the world, located in the Tarim Basin of Xinjiang, surrounded by mountains, with scarce precipitation and huge evaporation, it is a typical inland arid desert.
However, just under this seemingly barren land, there is an amazing secret hidden - an underground sea with more than 20% of the world's fresh water reserves. What's going on?Where does this fresh water come from?Why not exploit it?
The formation of the underground sea in the Taklamakan Desert is closely related to the geological evolution of the Tarim Basin where it is located. The Tarim Basin is an ancient inland water basin, the formation of which can be traced back to the Neoproterozoic, and has undergone many sea-land alternation and sedimentation, forming sedimentary layers with a thickness of more than 10 kilometers.
During the Tertiary period, the Tarim Basin used to be a vast inland saltwater lake, called the ancient Tarim Lake, with an area of 400,000 square kilometers, equivalent to the current Yellow Sea. Due to climate change and crustal movements, the ancient Tarim Lake gradually dried up, and part of the lake's water was evaporated and part of it seeped into the ground, forming a rich groundwater resource.
This groundwater is mainly distributed in the central and southern parts of the Tarim Basin, forming a huge groundwater basin with an area of about 160,000 square kilometers and freshwater reserves of about 250 billion cubic meters, equivalent to 10 times that of Lake Baikal and more than 20% of the world's freshwater resources, known as the Taklamakan Desert Underground Sea.
The characteristics of the underground sea in the Taklamakan Desert are mainly reflected in its water quality, water level, hydrology and water chemistry. The water quality of the underground sea in the Taklamakan Desert is excellent, either freshwater or brackish water, and its salt content is generally less than 1 gram liter, much lower than the 35 gram liters of seawater, which is suitable for human drinking and agricultural irrigation.
The water level in the subsurface of the Taklamakan Desert is high, usually between 10 and 100 meters below the surface, and in some places it can even gush directly from the surface to form springs or lakes. The hydrology of the underground sea in the Taklamakan Desert is complex, affected by various factors such as topography, geology, climate, and human activities, and its water volume and flow direction have certain changes.
The water of the underground sea of the Taklamakan Desert is diverse, and its water contains a variety of minerals and organic matter, some of which have certain medicinal value, while others are harmful to the human body and need to be treated or mixed.
The exploitation of the underground sea in the Taklamakan Desert is an issue of both opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, the underground sea of the Taklamakan Desert is a valuable water resource, which is of great significance for alleviating the shortage of water resources in Xinjiang, promoting economic and social development, and improving people's lives.
On the other hand, the Taklamakan Desert subsurface sea is a fragile ecosystem, which also plays an irreplaceable role in maintaining the stability of the desert, protecting biodiversity, and preventing sandstorms. Therefore, in the exploitation of the underground sea, we should not only consider the efficiency of water resources utilization, but also consider the protection effect of the ecological environment, and we should not blindly pursue the scale of development, but adhere to the principle of sustainable development.
At present, the mining of the underground sea in the Taklamakan Desert is mainly concentrated in the edge of the desert to meet the local water needs of agriculture, industry and civil use, and some scientific research and experiments are also being carried out to explore more reasonable mining methods and management models, in order to achieve the rational use and effective protection of the underground sea.
The underground sea of the Taklamakan Desert is a miraculous natural phenomenon and a precious water resource, which provides great potential for the development of Xinjiang and a new perspective for human understanding. However, the exploitation of the underground sea is not an easy task, it requires us to find a balance between utilization and protection, both to meet human needs, but also to respect the laws of nature, both to play to the advantages of the underground sea, and to prevent the risks of the underground sea.
This is a topic that requires long-term exploration and practice. The Taklamakan Desert is an oasis in the desert and an oasis in the hearts of human beings, let us cherish and care for this oasis together, so that it will always flow and be vibrant.