Particle size characteristics of surface sediments and their environmental significance: a comparative study of deserts in arid western Inner Mongolia, China

Based on the analysis of particle size mechanical composition and parameter distribution of surface sediments in the Hobq Desert (HD), the Ulan Buh Desert (UBD) and the northern part of the Mu Us Desert (MUD) in western Inner Mongolia, and combining the sedimentary environment discrimination method and the particle size lognormal fitting method, this research compares and explores the particle size characteristics and the significance of sensitive components in the sedimentary environment to the provenance in the three deserts. The results are shown as follows: (1) Sediment samples in the HD are dominated by fine sand (48.9