* Astronomy

Chinese Academy of  Science  researchers have obtained  drilling  core records of  the soft sandy loess and the loess-like sand on the northern slope of the West Kunlun Shan, a mountain  range  along the southern edge of the Tarim Basin, and Taklamakan and Gobi deserts.
 Supported by the  Chinese National Natural Science Foundation, the research team led by Prof. Fang Xiaomin at the Chinese Academy of  Science   Institute for the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Research has successful made the first drilling operations in the  arid region.
The researchers hope to  study the relationship between West Kunlun Shan loess and  desertification in Northwest China. The drilling is an important part of the research project.
So far, the drilling operation has reached over 200 meters in depth, and expected to  reach about 400 meters when the drilling operations are completed at the end of the July.

According to  the researchers the composition of the loess on the northern slope of the West Kunlun Shan is much coarser than the sediments on the Chinese Loess Plateau, being mostly sandy loess and loess-like sand as it is the direct product of the nearby vast Taklimakan Desert.
It is important to date the loess deposits at its highest terrace, which reach up to 3,315 meters above  sea level, in front of the Mountain, ad see if its age is consistent with that of the loess on lower tablelands which has been paleomagnetically dated to about 860,000 years ago.
This would  mean that the loess in the area were formed at the same time, implying a synchronous initiation of the Desert. If it is found to be older than that of the loess on the lower tablelands, it would be regarded as the latest age for the Desert's formation.

Source CAS

The Kunlun runs eastwards along the northern part of the Tibetan plateau to form the border range of northern Tibet. It stretches along the southern edge of what is now called the Tarim Basin, the infamous Takla Makan or "sand-buried houses" desert, and the Gobi desert.

Read more