Final Assessment

                The most unique character of Inner Mongolia’s physical geography is that from northeast to southwest, Inner Mongolia’s territory is extending three thousand kilometers (about two thousand miles). So if you drive from east boundary of Inner Mongolia to the west boundary, you could experience many different types of climates, and see some different types of landscapes.

http://www.chinatravelcompass.com/inner_mongolia/img/map/origin/NeiMongolAutonomousRegion.jpg

From the above picture, you could figure out how wide Inner Mongolia is. Also, you can see that from east to west, the landscapes changes significantly, from mountain region in the east, to grassland in mid-east region, to urban landscape in the central, and then to desert and Gobi desert in the west.

                In the future ten years, I think the biggest challenge for Inner Mongolia is desertification. The problem is due to multiple reasons, not only the physical geography factor. Since Inner Mongolia located in the center of The Eurasian Continent, climate there is very dry (pretty similar as Colorado). The summer season, which is also the raining season, is very short, from late-June to mid-August (except for the mountain region. Mountain region maybe more wet throughout the year).

The above picture shows desertification. It shows that this region is experiencing the transition from grassland to desert.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/DxEcAoJ1sJF-FfxySqjhow

The above picture shows the root cause of desertification in Inner Mongolia – overgrazing. Local people want more benefit from grazing. But the ecosystem is too fragile. The overgrazing brings a lot of pressures to the grassland. So, in ten years, this situation won’t be changed. And it’s very difficult to be solve because China’s large population size.

In the future a hundred years, things must be changed a lot. Since the Inner Mongolia is located in the center of The Eurasian Continent, so the geological structure is relatively stable. I don’t think the earthquakes or volcanic eruption will happen in the future one hundred years (although some minor earthquakes may happen in the mountain regions because it close to the edge of the Eurasian Plate and Pacific Plate). However, the biggest challenge comes from the climate change. If people want to have a sustainable way of development in Inner Mongolia, we must minimize the impact of environment from human activities, such as returning the grain plots to grassland, and not mining any more. 

http://www.virtualuppermantle.info/2011-Sendai-Japan.htm

The east boundary of Inner Mongolia is only hundreds miles from the plates edge.

Furthermore, it is very difficult to predict how things will change in the future one thousand years. I cannot find some strong evidence to support my hypothesis, but I do have some guess. In the far future, all the fossil fuel under Inner Mongolia will be completely used up. However, human will have already found some other ways for energy, so this is not the case. Because of the climate change, Inner Mongolia will no longer used for living anymore. It will become a heritage tourism destination in the future one thousand years.

                All in all, Inner Mongolia’s unique physical landscapes and it’s fascinating scenery will always attract people from all over the world in the future 100, 1,000, and 10,000 years.

Third Entry

Inner Mongolia is the China’s fifth largest economy among all China’s provinces. But main types of economy in Inner Mongolia are mining, steelmaking and grazing. So, if we talk about Green GDP, Inner Mongolia is the third province in China from the end. Green GDP generally means the total GDP minus the cost of environment.

http://www.china.com.cn/photochina/2011-11/28/content_24025617_4.htm



The emission of greenhouse gases in factories in Inner Mongolia is a very serious and dangerous problem. The major greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide (CO₂),   nitrous oxide (N₂O), carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH₄) and others. Greenhouse gas lets the Sun’s heat in, but it doesn’t let heat out. Greenhouse glass also traps heat inside. And the following picture shows how the greenhouse effect works (Allen, 2012).

http://clasfaculty.ucdenver.edu/callen/1202/Climate/RadiationBal/dnrP1.jpg

The emission of greenhouse gases could result to global warming problem. And the global warming could result to multiple problems such as melting of glaciers, rising of sea level, extinction of species. Those are all serious problems, and they do happen today. Because of the atmospheric circulation, the emission of greenhouse gases in a certain region cannot only influences the particular region, but influences the globe as a whole. So, every person in the world has the responsibility to decrease the emission of greenhouse gases and lives a green life.

http://www.wuyun.in/archives/2440.html



Next, we find some natural beauty of Inner Mongolia. Inner Mongolia Prairie has complex terrain and absolutely distinct seasons, so you can find plenty kinds of clouds there. Depends on different weather and different seasons, the types of clouds are different.

The following picture shows cumulus. Depends on altitude ranges, cumulus is low-level clouds (less than 2000 meters high). This kind of clouds is can only be seen in summer times in Inner Mongolia, because other seasons are very dry in Inner Mongolia, so there’s no chance to form this kind of clouds.

http://www.sc126.com/photo/35220.html

Looking down from above of cumulus.

http://www.whiteplanes.com/weather/weather18.htm

Second Entry

The Inner Mongolia Prairie has not only grassland, but also many other land forms. On the edge of the prairie, hilly ground is the most common landform. 

Inner Mongolia praire is a dry place, the annual precipitation is very low. So, there are no trees in the most place of Inner Mongolia. And the rainy season is from Jun to Sep. each year, only three months in summer. So, when the precipitaion is high in a certain year, the excessive rain could result to Debris Flows, see the picture belwo (The shape looks like a heart). Since there are no trees, flows may easily happen.



Since there are no trees and shelter on the Inner Mongolia Praire, rain and wind could easily erode stones, even the stone is hard enough, during a long period of time, it also could be eroded. See the picture below.

 

 Then, let 's move down, to talk about the soil of Inner Mongolia Praire. Inner Mongolia Praire is an arid region (lack of water). So the preocess must be Calcification. See picture below. From the surface to the bottom, the soil is from rich to poor. And you can see the long root of grasses. Not only in Inner Mongolia Praire, I think this kind of soil is very common in most of the grassland in the world.

Reference:

http://www.tripmondo.com/china/sichuan-sheng/baihetan/picture-gallery-of-baihetan/

http://www.cngytt.com/neimenggulvyou/pics/2009_art_671_3.html

http://baike.soso.com/v91599.htm

First Entry

The geological structure of the Inner Mongolia is complicated.  But the most significant land form located on the northeastern part of Inner Mongolia is Greater Hinggan Mountains. What attract people there, are hundreds of lakes on the top of mountains.

As you can see, most of these lakes are crater lakes. The elevation is about 1200-1400 meters.  The formation of these lakes was because of the volcano’s eruption. After the eruption of volcanos, craters were taking shaped. And then, after thousands of years’ precipitation, finally crater lakes were formed. Besides, because of the volcanos, there are lots of tephra, and cinder surrounding craters. So, it makes the soil pretty fertile, and it’s very important for the bio-diversity.  

Fortunately, those volcanos in Greater Hinggan Mountains no longer erupt. They’re all extinct volcanos today. So, it becomes a very welcomed recreation area in China today. People could go hiking, sightseeing in summer time and skiing in winter.

At the bottom of the Greater Hinggan Mountains, you can find another kind of landform, which is fault. The formation of these faults mainly was because of volcano activities; and water loss and soil erosion for a minimal reason (The first picture is showing the water loss and soil erosion, and the second picture is showing volcano activities).

Since the volcano activities are no longer exist, so there won’t be any faulting. But, the water loss and soil erosion is a really serious problem for the environment. In my opinion, overgrazing is the chief criminal. If people don’t take any method, the reclaiming problem will be more and more serious. It may finally turn the grassland to desert.

Introduction

Introduction

This is Long Chen's Physical Geography Blog.

        My chosen location is a grass plains in Inner Mongolia, China. The grass plains in Inner Mogolia is the largest grass plain in China. There are not only plains in this area, but also mountains, river, deserts, cities, and many other forms of landscape.

        The reason why I chose this location is because that this is the most beautiful place I have ever visited. I drove a range rover around here with my friends for ten days. I'll never forget this aventure experience, and the incredible landforms here. Besides, I chose a place I've ever visited because I can get a deeper understanding of the landform there. And when I do the description, it will be more lively.

Reference:

        CRIENGLISH.com. (2007). Inner Mongolia. Retrieved from: http://english.cri.cn/4406/2007/07/30/47@255255.htm.

        Simona. (2011). Inner Mongolia and the Silk Roads. Retrieved from: http://landsofwisdom.com/?p=1129.