Everything about The Loess Plateau totally explained
The
Loess Plateau, also known as the Huangtu Plateau, is a
plateau that covers an area of some
640,000 km² in the upper and middle of
China's
Yellow River and
China proper .
Loess is the name for the
silty
soil that has been deposited by wind storms on the plateau over the ages. Loess is a highly
erosion-prone soil that's susceptible to the forces of wind and water; in fact, the soil of this region has been called the "most highly erodible soil on earth". The Loess Plateau and its dusty soil cover almost all of
Shanxi,
Shaanxi, and
Gansu provinces, the
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and parts of others.
History
In ancient times, some of the earliest recorded mention of this area is from travel along the
Northern Silk Road. In the last part of the first millennium
BC, after the explorer
Zhang Qian's return to China, the
Han Dynasty pushed the
Xiongnu back and trade and cultural exchange flourished along the
Northern Silk Road through the southern Loess Plateau. Goods moving by caravan to the west included gold, rubies,
jade, textiles, coral, ivory and art works. In the opposite direction moved bronze weapons, furs,
ceramics and cinnamon bark.
Historically the Loess Plateau has provided simple yet insulated shelter from the cold winter and hot summer in the region, as homes called
yaodong were often carved into the loess soil; some families still live in this kind of shelter in modern times. During the
Shaanxi Earthquake, nearly a million people were killed as a result of collapsing loess caves. The
yaodongs that are best-known to the world are perhaps those in
Yan'an where the
Communist Party led by
Mao Zedong headquartered in 1930s. When
Edgar Snow, the author of
Red Star Over China, visited Mao and his party, he lived in a
yaodong.
Agriculture and environment
The Loess Plateau was highly fertile and easy to farm in ancient times, which contributed to the development of early Chinese civilization around the Loess Plateau.
Centuries of
deforestation and over-grazing, exacerbated by China's population increase, have resulted in degenerated
ecosystems,
desertification, and poor local economies.
In 1994 an effort known as the
Loess Plateau Watershed Rehabilitation Project was launched to mitigate desertification; limited success has resulted for a portion of the Loess Plateau, where now trees and grass have turned green and farmers are busy in their croplands. A major focus of the Project was to try and guide the people living in the Plateau to use more
sustainable ways of living such as keeping goats in pens not being allowed to roam free and erode the soft silty soil found in the plateau. Many trees were planted and nature is now reclaiming a portion of the Loess Plateau. Results have reduced the massive silt loads to the Yellow River by about one percent.
The Loess Plateau was formed over long
geologic times, and scientists have derived valuable information about global
climate change from samples taken from the deep layer of its silty soil.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Loess Plateau'.
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