As we all know, the United States has never stopped investigating our country. From the initial aircraft reconnaissance to the later warship reconnaissance in the South China Sea, the United States' habit of "peeping" at China has become increasingly intense.
However, this constant "peeping" sometimes causes some inexplicable troubles to Americans. For example, when a US satellite was conducting reconnaissance in the desert of Inner Mongolia, a shocking scene was discovered—— -------Countless "eyes of the desert" have grown in the desert of Inner Mongolia, my country.
What exactly is the "Eye of the Desert" and why does it shock Americans? It all starts with the United States' satellite reconnaissance of our country's deserts.
The "Eye of the Desert" under the satellite : dotted
The United States has always maintained a high degree of attention to the development of the Asia-Pacific, and even specially launched a detection satellite named "Landsat8" for this purpose, which is used to monitor the development of Asian countries. monitoring.
This satellite is the eighth satellite of the US Land Satellite Program (Landsat). The land imager and thermal infrared sensor it carries are the best contemporary monitoring instruments.
This also makes Landsat8 shoulder the most difficult detection task----------China's desert area detection.
2013 was an era of rapid development of China's power generation industry, and the endless deserts in Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Ningxia and other provinces have become ideal areas for solar power generation, which has led to a large number of solar power stations rising on the deserts.
Therefore, the Landsat8 satellite has been wandering in these desert areas all year round. Through the so-called geographical scientific survey, the Americans have used Landsat8 to continuously photograph this area from space.
Satellite images taken by the United States can even be included in the history of the development of desert power stations in our country. After all, high-definition cameras and a large enough shooting angle can create "blockbuster-level" imaging, which also just shows our country's development history. The construction process of solar power station.
However, during a later shooting, Landsat8 discovered an inexplicable sight in the Badain Jaran Desert in Inner Mongolia, which even made countless NASA ( NASA ) staff feel "scalp" tingling".
One day in 2014, Landsat8 passed over Inner Mongolia according to its orbit, preparing to take another photo and record of the construction of power stations in Inner Mongolia.
But when Landsat 8 passed through the Badain Jaran Desert, NASA staff discovered that there were countless holes that looked like "eyes" growing in this desert.
These holes are dotted all over the place. Just observing them from a distance will make people suffer from "intensive phobia". Some NASA staff even feel their scalps numb.
At first, U.S. intelligence workers thought these holes were China’s secret facilities. However, after analyzing a large number of photos, experts discovered that these holes were actually countless lakes.
But this has made many American geographers even more confused. What is going on?
The "Eye of the Desert" in the Badain Jaran Desert: The origin is a mystery
First of all, we must know that the Badain Jaran Desert covers an area of 44,300 square kilometers. It is the second largest desert in China and is also the main body of the Alxa Desert.
In addition, there is a sand peak called Bilutu Peak in the Badain Jaran Desert. With an astonishing altitude of 1,617 meters, Bilutu Peak has become what people call the "Desert Everest".
Such a huge desert scale, coupled with the highest sand peak, makes the Badain Jaran Desert one of the driest deserts in my country, with its average annual precipitation not even exceeding 40 mm.
But in such a piece of dry sand, there are many lakes distributed.
According to normal theory, it is not surprising that lakes appear in the desert, such as "Dunhuang Crescent Spring" or " Qianquan Lake" in Xinjiang. These are examples of desert lakes.
But the lakes in the Badain Jaran Desert are a different kind. Not only are they numerous, but they can also retain water in the dry sand, which is a bit incredible.
According to the water storage principle of lakes, these lakes will definitely be accompanied by huge water loss in the desert. If they can still maintain a considerable amount of water, it means that these lakes must have a water supply.
But in the Badain Jaran Desert, where can I find a water supply?
In response to this problem, some scientists have suggested that the water supply of these lakes may come from water vapor condensation.
Because the arid Badain Jaran Desert has a huge temperature difference between day and night, the hot air during the day condenses into water vapor when it encounters the cold air at night, which is then replenished into these lakes.
However, this theory was immediately overturned by other scientists, because the Badain Jaran Desert is not the only desert with a large temperature difference between day and night, but other deserts do not have so many lakes, which shows that it is not a source of water for condensed water vapor to replenish.
Therefore, people have improved on this theory and proposed that the supplementary water vapor may come from other places.
After all, to the southwest of the Badain Jaran Desert is the Himalayas. The large amount of melted snow water makes it easy to think of "water replenishment."
Such a statement has also attracted countless objections. This is mainly because if the snow water replenishes the lake water, it will definitely form precipitation. However, the precipitation in the Badain Jaran Desert has been measured to be very scarce, which is not enough to meet the long-term water supply replenishment.
After debugging these two conclusions, a third guess emerged.
That is, the water source of the lake comes from groundwater replenishment. This groundwater flows up to the desert through the fault zone, thus ensuring the long-term water supply of the lake.
This theory has gained public recognition because in recent years, with the development of human beings, groundwater resources have been depleted.
At this moment, the lakes in the Badain Jaran Desert are also partially drying up. The two times coincide with each other and have similarities.
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However, this theory is only "similar". Through further research by geologists, the properties of the lakes in the Badain Jaran Desert are actually different.
This is mainly due to the difference in water quality of lakes. Generally speaking, some lakes are rich in minerals and can be consumed by humans and animals, and some of them are also rich in strontium.
This is a substance called longevity element. It can promote bone growth and development, maintain normal physiological functions of the human body, prevent and treat osteoporosis , prevent and treat coronary heart disease and hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases, Promote cell development, prevent dental caries , relieve diabetes , etc.
But compared to lakes rich in strontium, another type of lake is a bit unfriendly, because they are rich in calcium, and the content is extremely high. Once humans or animals drink it by mistake, it will cause kidney disease. Stone is extremely harmful.
From this point of view, there are indeed huge differences between these lakes, but this "life and death" distribution of lakes has also put a mysterious veil on the "Eye of the Desert" in the Badain Jaran Desert, attracting countless people Rush to go.
Reference:
"American satellite eyes widen: China's Inner Mongolia has the "Eye of the Desert"! The cause remains a mystery" ---------- Inner Mongolia Tourism Network
"In the depths of an uninhabited desert, there are beautiful lakes. Have you been here? 》---------- Ctrip
"Spectacular! Sand and lake coexist, the lake in the desert will change your understanding of the desert! 》---------------- Xinhuanet
Author: Yachen Reviewer: Xiaoyang Proofreading Editor: Li Zi
