Qaidam Basin – The Mineral Rich Basin of China
Qaidam Basin is situated in the Tibetan
Autonomous Prefecture and Haixi Mongol, in the Qinghai Province of People's
Republic of China. The basin is also known as Tsaidam as per Mongolian dialect,
which means "Salt Marsh". This is basically a hyperarid basin, which
is stretched about 120,000 square kilometers.
There are 27 saline lakes in the basin and also playas which altogether
accounted as one fourth of the basin.
One third of the basin, that an area of 35,000 square kilometers are
pure desert and is called as Chaidamu Pendi Shamo known as in Chinese and
generally called as Qaidam Basin Desert. The Qaidam Basin is part of Tibetan
Plateau. Tibet Plateau is about 14,000
feet above the sea level but Qaidam is about 10,000 feet and when it stretches
towards Gansu and further north the altitude stay varied between 3,000 to 4,000
feet.
The largest deposits of minerals
and metals
Qaidam Basin has the largest deposits of
asbestos, Borax, Gypsum, natural gas and oil.
Also the basin has rich deposits of rare metals such as lithium,
potassium, sodium and magnesium than any other part of China. There are 22
surveyed oil fields which are having an estimated 225 million tons of oil
deposits and 150 cubic meters of natural gas deposits in 6 identified gas fields.
These deposits are the strong economic power house of modern china. One of the main rail transportation links of
Qinghai-Tibet Railway passes through eastern part of Qaidam Basin gives an easy
access to the mineral rich basin.
Endangered mammals
Some of the endangered mammal species,
namely Bactrian camels and Przewalski's horses are reportedly seen in the
desert basin. It is unlikely to have
these mammals to survive in this part of the world but it is a reality that the
basin support good number of Bactrian camels. The mountain valleys on the
slopes are rich in vegetation and as result lots of wild animals are seen
settled here. Mainly musk deer, Tibetan antelope are the main animals that you
can see here.
The geological aspects
It is quite interesting to learn few
things about the geology of Qaidam Basin. Qaidam Basin was considered as an
integral portion of North China geological territory, more than one billion
years ago. There are scientific
evidences to prove this theory. Due to the continued plate disintegration,
during the Eopaleozoic era, that is about 560 million years ago, it was
separated and surrounded by shallow sea. At the end of Eopaleozoic era, due to
intense tectonic movements, the basin began to uplift. The area became a land
in the next 200 million years. The basin was completely disintegrated from
Mediterranean Sea in the beginning of Neogene Period. It formed as a plateau, now known as
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Surrounded with
mountain, chances of getting rain reduced and the rich forest areas gradually
turned in to desert. When the existing
water evaporated, salts and rare metals converged and eventually formed in to
salt lakes.
How to reach Qaidam Basin:
The best mode of transport to reach Qaidam
Basin is by travelling by train. If you are travelling by a group, a train
journey will give you all the kind of fun and entertainment. You can take the
Qinghai-Tibet route and get down at Golmud which is located at the southern
edge of Qaidam Basin. From here you can hope in to tourist bus or regular bus
that can take you up to the Qaidam Basin.
Feel thrilled, then don’t wait! Qaidam Basin is calling you!!
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