In the later stage of Late Pleistocene

global climate entered into the climax period of Würm when temperature decreased remarkably and glaciers developed. Information from the East China Sea also confirm that the sea level fell by at least 130 m at that time (Emery

1968). The Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea at the climax period were totally exposed

while the East China Sea and South China Sea shelf regions were exposed partly. The exposed shelf area exceeded 1 million km2 and became a salty desert where land plants could not survive. Such were the conditions which led to the desertization of the shelf region. Eolation was the major exogenetic force not only on land but also on the shelf region in the ice age. At the climax period of Würm

the northern part of China developed thick layers of loess deposits. The shelf region at that time had similar climatic conditions and sediments. Because the shelf region was not protected by vegetation in the ice age

intensive wind storms remoulded the primarily deposited strata to produce new sedimentary differentiation and new series of land sediments. Shallow-layer profiler records indicated the existence of many land sediment types

including dunes

dune-chains

desert bodies

thick layers of repose angle sediments and desertization derivatives. New data available show the shelf region adjoining China can be divided into six regions of desertization and its derivatives.