When Oases dry up

The Oasis Project:
Historical evolution of adaptability in a oasis region to water resource changes
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto, Japan

The great wall, the place where the nomadicand agricultural peoples faced up.
Gobi Dessert. The annual rain-fall is only
10-20 mm.
Ancient Chinese cavalry in a wall painting.

A vast arid desert extends throughout the central area of the Eurasian continent. Although theA Long History

land of this region seems barren, it has beenof Oases

than 3000 years. This region has been an impor-in Central Eurasia

and also a major route for traffic between

occupied by various groups of people for moretant trade route between the East and the West,northern nomadic and southern agriculturalcultures. In this arid region, water is available inplaces called oases that provide subsistence forthe local people at present as well as in ancienttimes.
100 kmLake Sog nor●EjinaGobi Desert
N

Extent of the arid deserts in central Eurasia continent, and the ancient
Silk Road trade rote,.

Hiefe River
Beida River

For the Future Capabilityof Oasis Regions

To UrmuchiJiuquan●T heSilk Ro rdOasis
city-states

The Oasis Project::A Joint Research Project of Japan and China
The Oasis Project is a research project aiming at reconstructing the history of the●Zyanye

To Xi`anQilian Mountains

interaction between people and natue for the last 2000 years in an arid region of China.
The project adopts a trans-disciplinary approach, integrating various studies including
history, archeology, ethnology, economics, hydrology, meteorology, glaciology, biology, and agriculture. In this way, we may learn something important that can increase
the capabilities of oasis regions over the long term.

The study site of the Oasis Project is the Heihe
River Basin in Qinghai, Gansu Provinces, andInner Mongolia, China:

The Qing Dynasty

1200 years B.P.

300 years B.P.

18
16
14
12
10
8

2000

1990

1980

41970

61960

Water discharge (ton/sec.)

The Tung Dynasty

Discharge from a river originating in the highmountains has been decreasing recently.
(Heihe River)A lake that was full in the past completely dried up in thelate 1990s.

Future of this Oasis Region:
How to Keep its Water Resources

Water shortages have recently become a big issue in this region. Shortages force the local people to move and change
their traditional life-style. Impacts force from human activities including overuse of agricultural water, over grazing, and climate change (e.g. global warming) could have caused the water shortage, but exact reason is still unknown. It is important
to elucidate the causes and to maintain adequate water resources in the region. For future capability, however, it is more
important to consider the basic questions; who pocesses the water, and why water is to be used by people.
Overuse of agricultural water?
Causes for the water decline
Climate change (Global warming)?

Decrease of vegetation byovergrazing?

Reconstruction of the history in the oasis region
The history of the interaction between people and nature will be reconstructed for the last 2000 years
by examining historical documents, ice cores from glaciers, lake sediments, and tree-ring samples.

Studies of THE water circulation system: water resources and demands
Interviews with local people and field observations will help determine how much water is required
for agriculture and the nomadic lifestyle and the transport of water from rainfall, to glaciers, rivers,ground water, and evapo-transpiration.

GlacierClouds

RiverEvapotranspiration

Ground water (well)

Water Sources for Oases
Oases, with a small amount of rainfall, are supplied with water from rivers and ground water. These originate from precipitation in mountains including melt-water from glaciers. Some water is used for agriculture and the sustenance of local people,
and the rest flows out and evaporate due to the intense solar radiation in desert. To understand how water shortages occur inthis region, the local water circulation process should be quantified, and how the local water cycle connects with the global
water circulation system should be determined. The global connection is important because the water originally comes from theAtlantic and Indian Oceans.

Water vapor
from the Atlantic Ocean

Sand storm(Kosa)

Water vapor fromthe Indian Ocean

The water circulation process in the oasis region is in
association with global water system. Rain water in the region
originate from the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Desertification ofthe region causes frequent sand-storms that spread toward
eastern China, and blow Kosa (yellow sand) to Japan.

Stock farmers in mountain region (Yugur)

Agricultural people (Han Chinese)

Nomadic people (Mongolian)

Ethnic people in the Heihe basin

Various People around Water in the Oasis Region
The oasis region has been inhabited by various ethnic groups who have different religions, cultures, and lifestyles.
In the present Heihe river basin, stock farmers (Yugu people) live in the mountains, agricultural people (Han people)
live in the oasis area, and nomadic people (Mongolian people) live in the Gobi-desert. The lifestyles of these people
have drastically changed with changes in natural environment and government policy. In particular, the recent water
shortage greatly impacts the local people and destroys their traditional lifestyles.

PeoplehaThousands livestock
200
CulturalGreat
Revolution
Leap
Forward
160

12000
10000

4000

3000

8000

120
6000

Han people
80

4000

Cultivatedland

Mongolian People
2000

02000

Livestock

Disintegration ofthe People's
Commune

40

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

Population change of Han and Mongolian people in Ejinacity, Inner-mongolia: the city used to be a settlement ofnomadic people (Mongolian), but agricultural people (Han)have significantly increased recently.

01950

1960

1970

1980

1000

01990

Change of cultivated land area and the number of livestock inEjina City: they have changed with Chinese government
policies.

The Han Dynasty

206 BC~220 AD
The Yuan Dynasty

The Han Dynasty was ambitious in western China. In particular, they fought
against the nomadic Xiongnu Dynasty, which had a sphere of influence in thewestern area. The Han Dynasty reclaimed land to expand its farmland.
Stone rubbings (Shanxi Lishi Huaxiangshi E01-05, Zuobiaomu Qima
Chuxing Huaxiang) in the holdings of the Institute for Research in
Humanities, Kyoto University

1206~1367 ADThe Yuan Dynasty, which was ruled bynomads, also developed irrigated farmland.
This could be one of the eras when nomadic
and farming people were in harmony.

People and Water
Throughout History
There are many ruins in the desert that indicate the history for the last two thousand or more years. Many documents have been excavated in these ruins that will be readby historians, social scientists, hydrologists, meteorologists
to be better understand the water environment of the region
in the past. We might discover a previous era in which peoIrrigation systems in the Yuan Dynasty still
remain in the desert. (agricultural people in awall painting and an irrigation channel,Lucheng)

ple lived in harmony with the water resources.

The Qing Dynasty

1644~1912 AD
Many documents have been discovered in the ruins of the Xixia and Yuan
Dynasties. These documents tell us
about the life of the people at thattime. (A ruin, the Heicheng, and a document discovered there.)

The vast collection of official documents of the Qing
Dynasty includes detailed meteorological and agricultural information of the region.

Air temperature variations over the last thousand years. These werereconstructed using an ice core retrieved from a glacier in the Qilian
Mountains located upstream of the Heihe Basin. It shows a cooling
trend in the Yuan and Ming dynasties and a warming trend in the lastcentury.

China
Rep. of China

Qing

Year
2000

Ming

1900
1800

Yuan

1700
1600

Song

1500
1400
1300
1200
1100

Air temperature

1000

Reconstruction ofPast Water Environments

Ice core drilling on a mountain glacier.

Natural changes in the environment could have caused somehistorical events. The past environmental conditions, such as air
temperature and precipitation, have been recorded in glaciers, trees,
and the bottom of lakes. Physical and chemical analyses of thesenatural proxies can allow us to reconstruct the past environment.
The natural history would help to understand the interactions
between people and nature.

Records in tree rings indicate
past environmental conditions.

Sampling of lake sediments. Pollen and remains of plankton that accumulated at the bottom of a lake can tell us
about past environments.

Contact: The Oasis Project SecretaryNozomu Takeuchi
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
335 Takashimacho Kamigyoku Kyoto 602-0878 Japan
Phone: +81-75--229-6177
Fax: +81-75-229-6150
E-mail: takeuchi@chikyu.ac.jp
http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/oasis

Copyright© 2003