WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Although the source of loess materials is from the Gobi Desert and the sand deserts, they are not produced by those deserts. The three mountains, including the Gobi Altay Mountains, the Hangayn Mountains and the Qilian Mountains are responsible for making loess materials for the desert and plateau.

Detailed explanation-2: -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.

Detailed explanation-3: -In South America, Iceland, Alaska, and New Zealand, volcanic ash is one of the major sources of loesses (Muhs et al., 2014).

Detailed explanation-4: -Loess is a periglacial or aeolian (windborne) sediment, defined as an accumulation of 20% or less of clay and a balance of roughly equal parts sand and silt (with a typical grain size from 20 to 50 micrometers), often loosely cemented by calcium carbonate.

Detailed explanation-5: -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.

Detailed explanation-6: -Loess (pronounced “luss"), is German for loose or crumbly. It is a gritty, lightweight, porous material composed of tightly packed grains of quartz, feldspar, mica, and other minerals.