In this study， there were 163 selected sampling sites with a total of 489 sampling plots in the grassland of Qinghai Lake Basin. And the spatial distribution characteristics of soil total carbon （TC）， soil organic carbon （SOC）， total nitrogen （TN） content and density （ TCD， SOCD and TND ） in different grassland types were studied by means of field sampling and experimental analysis， mathematical statistics and spatial analysis methods. Results showed that the soil average TC content in the 0-10 cm， 10-20 cm and 20-30 cm layers were 5.60%， 4.72% and 4.30%， respectively. Corresponding SOC content averaged 4.40%， 3.70%， and 3.34%； TN content were 0.46%， 0.37%， and 0.30%. The average values of TCD in the corresponding soil layers were 5.75 kg·m^-2， 6.07 kg·m^-2 and 6.01 kg·m^-2， respectively. The average values of SOCD were 4.53 kg·m^-2， 4.75 kg·m^-2 and 4.67 kg·m^-2， respectively. The average values of TND were 0.46 kg·m^-2， 0.46 kg·m^-2 and 0.42 kg·m^-2，respectively.Alpine meadow soils exhibited the highest carbon and nitrogen contents， whereas alpine desert soils showed the lowest. Spatially， the content and density of soil TC， SOC and TN were lower in the northwestern of the basin， on the northern shore of Qinghai Lake， in the headwaters of Buha river and Shaliu river， and higher in the middle reaches of all rivers. Soil cumulative SOC and TN contents and densities in the 0-30 cm depths were collectively influenced by annual mean precipitation， vegetation coverage， and ecosystem gross primary productivity.

Soil carbon and nitrogen content  /  Soil carbon and nitrogen density  /  Spatial distribution  /  Qinghai Lake Basin