What is the largest loess in the world?
What is the largest loess in the world?
The world’s largest loess plateau is an important birthplace of Chinese civilization. The Loess Plateau, known as the Huangtu Plateau in Chinese, is about 640,000 square kilometers, accounting for 6.67 percent of China’s total land area.
What is loess in China?
The Chinese Loess Plateau, or simply the Loess Plateau, is a plateau in north-central China formed of loess, a clastic silt-like sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. It is located southeast of the Gobi Desert and is surrounded by the Yellow River.
Where is the Loess Plateau in China?
Loess Plateau, Chinese (Pinyin) Huangtu Gaoyuan or (Wade-Giles romanization) Huang-t’u Kao-yüan, highland area in north-central China, covering much of Shanxi, northern Henan, Shaanxi, and eastern Gansu provinces and the middle part of the Huang He (Yellow River) basin.
Why is the loess problematic for the Yellow River?
In China, soil from the Loess Plateau erodes into the Yellow River. This erosion creates problems that have occurred from ancient times to the present. Unfortunately, during the last four decades, too much sediment has threatened the river.
What river is called China’s sorrow?
Because of this, the Huang He is also nicknamed “China’s Sorrow.” For thousands of years, the Chinese have embarked on major public works projects to control and irrigate the water from the Huang He, including hydroelectric dams in modern times.
Which country of Asia is famous for its loess deposits?
Extensive loess deposits are found in northern China, the Great Plains of North America, central Europe, and parts of Russia and Kazakhstan. The thickest loess deposits are near the Missouri River in the U.S. state of Iowa and along the Yellow River in China.
What makes loess so valuable?
Abstract. Loess soils are among the most fertile in the world, principally because the abundance of silt particles ensures a good supply of plant-available water, good soil aeration, extensive penetration by plant roots, and easy cultivation and seedbed production.
Do people live in the Loess Plateau?
Home to more than 50 million people, the Loess Plateau in China’s Northwest takes its name from the dry powdery wind-blown soil. Centuries of overuse and overgrazing led to one of the highest erosion rates in the world and widespread poverty.
Who built the first cities in China?
Shang Dynasty cities were the first historically documented urban settlements in China. The Shang Dynasty [c 1700–1050 B.C.E.] was the first Chinese dynasty to leave written records, and the idea and function of cities took on an elevated importance.
Is Loess good for farming?
Loess soils are among the most fertile in the world, principally because the abundance of silt particles ensures a good supply of plant-available water, good soil aeration, extensive penetration by plant roots, and easy cultivation and seedbed production.
Why is Yellow River called yellow?
It is called the Yellow River because its waters carry silt, which give the river its yellow-brown color, and when the river overflows, it leaves a yellow residue behind. While the river helps create fertile land that is suited for farming, during certain times of the year the Huang He frequently overflows.