THE OASIS SOIL TYPE CHANGE AND ITS FRACTAL IN MANASI RIVER BASIN BETWEEN 1987-2006, ARID NORTHWESTERN CHINA

During the past 20 years, great landscape changes took place in the northwest of China. Landscape change resulted in soil type transformations. This paper discusses the changes and fractal of soil types in oasis. In order to do it, the soil type maps of Manasi River Basin in 1987 and 2006 were used. 13 types of soil and 2 types of land-use were classified and analyzed in the study area. Results indicated many variations in characteristics. Firstly, all soil types underwent remarkable changes from 1987 to 2006 in the study area: the identified changed area was about 30% or 6506.33 km(2). Secondly, in comparison with 1987, in 2006 2/3 of the area's soil types increased, while 1/3 decreased. Rapid expansion of Aquicambids (415.28 km(2)), and rapid decrease of Petrocambids (797.05 km(2)) and Aquisalids (415.93 km(2)) were the noticeable findings. Furthermore, Haplocambids obtained largest gains from other soil types, while Petrocambids lost largest area to other types. Additionally, the fractal relationship objectively existed between the perimeter and area of soil patches. The fractal dimension of Aquisalids, Petrocalcids and Ustifluvents became higher and their shapes became more complex during this period. The stability index was higher in 2006 which indicated that the spatial structure of soil type was more stable than in 1987. These chaotic and occasional changes were largely caused by human activities and natural conditions. Consequently, environmental managers should pay more attention to soil changes in the arid and semiarid region.