Comprising a basin in the Qarhan Playa, it fills when meltwater floods the Golmud River, causing it to spill into subsidiary channels west of the main course to Dabusun Lake.

Dabusun[1][2][3] or Dabsan[4] is a romanization of a Mongolian name meaning "Salt Lake".

[5] Dabuxun[6] is the pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of the same name's transcription into characters.

Xi Dabsan[4] or Xidabuxun[7] are the same names, prefixed with the Chinese word for "West".

[4] Although sometimes listed as perennial, it is an ephemeral saline lake fed by the "Yuejin River" (t 躍進河, s 跃进河, Yuèjìn Hé),[9] a subsidiary western channel of the Golmud that periodically fill with meltwater.