This map shows Central Asia's Qaidam Basin, Gobi Desert and Loess Plateau. A research team led by UA geoscientist Paul Kapp suggests that during glacial times, winds blew dust from the Qaidam Basin to the Loess Plateau and deposited more than half of the dust currently in the Loess Plateau. During interglacial times such as the present, the westerly winds shift north and blow dust from the Gobi Desert to the Loess Plateau. Credit: Paul Kapp, University of Arizona