Limited change in dune mobility in response to a large decrease in wind power in semi-arid northern China since the 1970s

The climatic controls on dune mobility, especially the relative importance of wind strength, remain incompletely understood. This is a key research problem in semi-arid northern China, both for interpreting past dune activity as evidence of paleoclimate and for predicting future environmental change. Potential eolian sand transport, which is approximately proportional to wind power above the threshold for sand entrainment, has decreased across much of northern China since the 1970s. Over the same period, effective moisture (ratio of precipitation to potential evapotranspiration) has not changed significantly. This “natural experiment” provides insight on the relative importance of wind power as a control on dune mobility in three dunefields of northern China (Mu Us, Otindag, and Horqin), although poorly understood and potentially large effects of human land use complicate interpretation. Dune forms in these three regions are consistent with sand transport vectors inferred from weather station data, suggesting that wind directions have remained stable and the stations adequately represent winds that shaped the dunes. The predicted effect of weaker winds since the 1970s would be dune stabilization, with lower sand transport rates allowing vegetation cover to expand. Large portions of all three dunefields remained stabilized by vegetation in the 1970s despite high wind power. Since the 1970s, trends in remotely sensed vegetation greenness and change in mobile dune area inferred from sequential Landsat images do indicate widespread dune stabilization in the eastern Mu Us region. On the other hand, expansion of active dunes took place farther west in the Mu Us dunefield and especially in the central Otindag dunefield, with little overall change in two parts of the Horqin dunes. Better ground truth is needed to validate the remote sensing analyses, but results presented here place limits on the relative importance of wind strength as a control on dune mobility in the study areas. High wind power alone does not completely destabilize these dunes. A large decrease in wind power either has little short-term effect on the dunes, or more likely its effect is sufficiently small that it is obscured by human impacts on dune stability in many parts of the study areas.     

Reconstructing the geomorphic evolution of large coastal dunes along the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan

Coastal dunes are common along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, with the most common being large (>30 m high), parabolic dunes that mantle lake terraces south of Manistee, MI. Although these dunes are an important resource in Michigan, and thus intensely managed by various state agencies, their geomorphic history is poorly understood. This study examines four sites near Holland, MI, through stratigraphic and radiocarbon analyses and is the most detailed geomorphic reconstruction conducted of coastal parabolic dunes in the region. Results from this study could benefit the environmental agencies in their management of the coastal dune ecosystem.Deposition of Eolian sand apparently began 5500 cal. years BP (i.e., during the Nipissing high stand). Most (75%) dune building occurred between 4000 and 2500 cal. years BP but was punctuated by brief periods of stability that resulted in the development of Entisols (A/C horizonation). Entisol burial occurred because the sand supply apparently increased during both the receding and rising lake levels. Subsequently, each dune stabilized for 2000 years, allowing the formation of Inceptisols (i.e., A/E/Bs/C horizonation). This interval of dune stability correlates with sites south of Holland and occurred while Lake Michigan fluctuated slowly and the beach potentially prograded. These combined variables of slow fluctuation and potential beach progradation hypothetically protected the dunes from wave erosion. Dunes near Holland became active again 1000–500 cal. years BP and grew both vertically and laterally. This activity intensified in the past 500 cal. years BP and hypothetically occurred due to recession of the lake shore such that wave erosion at the modern bluff base resumed. Results from this study indicate that coastal dunes along Lake Michigan are similar to many coastal dunes around the world, including those along the intermediate beaches in SE Australia.     

Post-Nipissing Origin of a Backdune Complex Along the Southeastern Shore of Lake Michigan

Relatively low (<25 m) parabolic dunes and dune ridges occur inland of massive parabolic dunes in many dune complexes along the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan. The major study of these backdunes (Tagues, 1946) concluded, based on field criteria, that they were older than the massive parabolic dunes and originate at the Calumet and Algonquin stages of ancestral Lake Michigan (~14-10 ka). Younger ages are indicated by this study in which Optically Stimulated Luminescense (OSL) ages were obtained from the crest of three backdunes southwest of Holland, Michigan. All ages are within statistical error of each other and indicate dune stabilization at ~4 ka. Similarities in surface soil development throughout the backdunes support the conclusion that they all stabilized at about the same time. Radiocarbon ages from paleosols indicate that the massive parabolic dunes were active at 4 ka and that this activity persisted after the back dunes had stabilized. In the Holland area, dune growth and migration occurred in a broad zone, including both back and massive parabolic dunes, immediately after the rise to and drop from Nipissing II high lake levels but became confined to a narrower zone closer to shore after ~4 ka.     

The evolution of Holocene coastal dunefields, Jutland, Denmark: A record of climate change over the past 5000 years

Coastal dunefields have developed on the west coast of Jutland in Denmark over the past 5000 years. The dunefields are situated in a temperate climate zone with frequent high energy wind events. Dunefield development was characterized by repeated periods of transgressive dune formation punctuated by periods of dune stabilization and soil formation. The chronology of dunefield evolution is based on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating of peaty palaeosols (24 samples) and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating of aeolian sand deposits (19 samples). These dates indicate that the completeness of the stratigraphic record varies considerably, but that the timing of aeolian activity events was identical in the dunefields examined here. Initiation of aeolian activity occurred around 2200 BC, 800 BC, AD 100, AD 1050–1200, and between AD 1550 and 1650. Proxy-climate data from bogs in southwestern Sweden suggest that these periods of dunefield activity were initiated during wet/cool summers. Most likely these climatic situations were associated with a more frequent passage of cyclones across Denmark in the summer seasons (increased storminess) causing aeolian sand movement and dune formation. The continued removal of vegetation in Jutland between 4000 BC and AD 1850 allowed the aeolian sand, when first activated, to move more and more easily across the coastal plains; the final phase of aeolian sand movement between AD 1550–1650 and 1900 had catastrophic implications for many coastal inhabitants in the region.     

库布齐沙漠南缘沙丘固定与活化过程中的形态演变

以1998-2014年5期库布齐沙漠南缘的遥感影像为主要数据源,结合野外调查分析了沙丘固定与活化过程中的形态演变,探讨了区域风况和降水等气象要素对沙丘固定与活化及形态演变的影响。结果表明：研究区沙丘随降水量的年际波动经历了固定-活化-再固定3个阶段。监测初期的片状流动沙丘演变为大型抛物线形沙丘并得以固定,固定的抛物线形沙丘以发育风蚀坑形式活化,进而形成多个抛物线形沙丘,最后这些沙丘又被植被固定,沙丘形态趋于更加复杂。但在此过程中,风的作用并不显著.研究区抛物线形沙丘既可起源于新月形沙丘或片状流沙,也可由风蚀坑发育而成,其中植被作为沙丘的重要组成部分,起着重要作用。同时发现在抛物线形沙丘移动过程中,当背风坡发育滑落面时,沙丘的移动最快。     

Factors controlling the survival of coastal dunes during multiple hurricane impacts in 2004 and 2005: Santa Rosa barrier island, Florida

Santa Rosa Island is an 85 km-long, wave-dominated low-lying barrier island situated along the northwestern Florida coast, facing the Gulf of Mexico. The entire island was severely impacted by Ivan, a strong category 3 hurricane that made landfall about 45 km to the west in September of 2004. Ten months later in July of 2005, Dennis, another category 3 hurricane, made landfall about 30 km east of the western tip of the island. Santa Rosa Island is characterized by well-developed but relatively low dunefields, described in this paper as incipient and established dunes, based on the presence of grassy and woody types of vegetation, respectively. The dunes were severely eroded by the two hurricanes. This paper investigates the factors controlling the regional-scale destruction and survival of the dunefields.Dune survival is controlled by: 1) hurricane characteristics, including intensity, duration, and frequency, and 2) morphological parameters including width of the barrier island, height and width of the dunefields, vegetation type, distance of the dunes to the ocean, and continuity of the dunefields. Three processes of dune destruction are described including, from most to least severe, inundation, overwash, and scarping. The interaction of all the above factors determines the different dune responses to the storm impacts. In general, the extensive and densely woody vegetated dunefields near the bay-side shoreline survived the storms, while the discontinuous dunes with grassy vegetation near the Gulf shoreline were almost completely destroyed.     

Late Holocene dune migration on the south Texas sand sheet

There are a wide variety of vegetated, eolian depositional landforms associated with the south Texas sand sheet, attesting to the past dominance of eolian processes. Mapping identified two sets of parabolic dunes elongating with winds from the southeast and the northwest. Parabolic dunes elongated by northwesterly winds are older than ca. 200 years and may be associated with eolian depositional events ca. 2700 and/or 2000 years ago. The latest dune migration event, associated with southeasterly winds occurred ca. 200 years ago and at one site is inset into northwesterly-extended parabolic dunes. This period of dune migration may be coincident with particularly severe drought identified in the tree-ring record centered at AD 1790, when the Palmer Drought Severity Index was − 4. A threshold of dune movement may have occurred ca. in the 11th, 15th and 20th centuries when there are two or more consecutive years with a Palmer Drought Severity Index of < − 4, corresponding to 30–50% reduction in precipitation. Dune systems on Coastal Plain of Texas to reactivated repeatedly due to climate variability in the past 3000 years.     

Variable vegetation cover and episodic sand movement on longitudinal desert sand dunes

Longitudinal (linear) sand dunes of the Simpson and Strzelecki dunefields in eastern central Australia present a paradox. Low levels of activity today stand in contrast to luminescence dating which has repeatedly shown deep deposits of sand on dune crests dating to within the late Holocene. In order to investigate the nature of dune activity in the Simpson–Strzelecki dunefield, vegetation and sand mobility were investigated by detailed vegetation survey and measurement of rippled area and loose sand depth of dunes at three sites along a climatic gradient. The response of both vegetation and sand movement to inter-annual climate variability was examined by repeat surveys of two sites in drought and non-drought conditions. Projected plant cover and plant + crust cover were found to have inverse linear relationships with rippled area and the area of deep loose sand. No relationship was found between these measures of sand movement and the plant frontal area index. A negative exponential relationship between equivalent mobile sand depth on dune surfaces and both vascular plant cover and vascular + crust cover was also found. There is no simple threshold of vegetation cover below which sand transport begins. Dunes with low perennial plant cover may form small dunes with slip faces leading to a positive feedback inhibiting ephemeral plant growth in wet years and accelerating sand transport rates. The linear dunefields are largely within the zone in which plant cover is sufficient to enforce low sand transport rates, and in which there is a strong response of vegetation and sand transport to inter-annual variation in rainfall. Both ephemeral plants (mostly forbs) and crust were found to respond rapidly to large (> 20 mm/month) rainfall events. On millennial time-scales, the level of dune activity is controlled by vegetation cover and probably not by fluctuations of wind strength. Land use or extreme, decadal time-scale, drought may destabilise dunes by removing perennial plant cover, accelerating wind erosion.     

新月形沙丘维持相对稳定的两种过程

新月形沙丘顶部稳定性是风沙地貌学尚未解决的科学问题。研究新月形沙丘的顶部稳定性,对于绿洲边缘风沙运动规律揭示、防沙工程建设和沙区生态环境保护等具有重要的现实意义。选择民勤沙区新月形沙丘,通过测定沙丘各部位风速、风蚀风积和粒度等,分析了新月形沙丘顶部稳定机理。主风向（NW）作用是新月形沙丘最高点与沙脊线重合、沙丘前移和高度降低的过程;反向风（SE）作用是沙丘最高点与沙脊线分离、沙丘背风坡风蚀与沙丘增高的过程。由于研究区以NW风为主,新月形沙丘沿NW-SE方向前移,SE风只能风蚀减缓沙丘背风坡的坡度。人为干预将会阻止或减少从迎风坡向沙丘顶部输送沙量,使得新月形沙丘背风坡尤其是背风坡上部风蚀过程增强,新月形沙丘逐渐过渡为抛物线形沙丘。     

Dynamics of nebkhas superimposed on a parabolic dune and their effect on the dune dynamics

We report here on a bare barchan dune in Israel that converted over the last 60 years to a shrub-covered parabolic dune due to changes in land use. Thirty nebkhas (sand mounds) that were formed by sand trapped around shrubs growing on the dune were monitored during winter of 2004–2005. The rates of erosion or deposition were measured at five points in the nebkhas by erosion pins. All nebkhas were shown to undergo erosion or deposition activity. Nebkhas on the windward slope of the dune experienced primarily erosion. Those on the lee slope grew slowly by the light accumulation of sand. The largest nebkhas were found on the dune crest; they built up through the accumulation of sand that was eroded from the windward slope. There were no significant differences between the rates of erosion/deposition of the five study points placed in each nebkha. However, there were significant differences between the rates of erosion/deposition of the nebkhas on the three dynamic segments of the dunes (windward, crest and lee). A change in dune dynamics was observed by the emergence of shrubs on the crest. These shrubs trapped sand and increased the crest height. The sand trapped on the crest was not deposited on the lee side. In that case, the dune becomes narrower, higher, with a concave shape (of the windward slope), during the transformation from a barchan to a parabolic dune.     

Morphology and chronostratigraphy of a coastal dunefield; Groote Eylandt, northern Australia

A coastal dunefield on Groote Eylandt, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia, is stratigraphically described and dated using the coarse fraction thermoluminescence dating technique. Four phases of dune activity have been identified: (1) Modern active transverse and parabolic dunes. (2) A parabolic dunefield apparently stabilized less than 2000 yr BP. (3) A parabolic dunefield stablized between 6000 and 4800 yr BP. (4) A basal dunefield unit emplaced prior to 100,000 yr BP.The current dune systems are an expression of dune activation and stabilization events in the Holocene, but were formed from the deflation of an extensive pre-Holocene dunefield. The destruction of the pre-Holocene dunefield appears to have been caused by sea-level rise at the end of the Pleistocene and during the early Holocene. The ages derived from the dunefield accord well with chronostratigraphic investigations of coastal dune systems elsewhere in northern Australia and support theories of regional environmental change during the Holocene.     

图们江下游圈河流域河岸沙丘动态变化

以图们江下游跨国界地区圈河流域河岸沙丘为研究对象,运用遥感与GIS技术,结合遥感影像、地形图等资料,分析该区1984~2015年河岸沙丘空间分布与格局演变,计算河岸沙丘分维值与稳定性指数。结果表明：该区河岸沙丘主要分布在弯曲型河道东岸,呈WNW-ESE向带状展布,面积15.71 km²。近31 a沙丘面积总体呈减少态势,净减少0.09 km²,其中,较少有人类活动的A区,沙丘面积呈减少趋势,减少幅度为8.21%;而受人类活动影响较大的B区,沙丘面积持续增加,尤其近5 a增幅达32%。河岸沙丘分维值虽总体高于内陆沙漠沙丘,但变化不显著,说明河岸沙丘处于相对稳定的发育演化过程中。该研究为图们江下游跨国界地区生态环境可续持发展提供科学依据。     

High (ground) water levels and dune development in central Australia: TL dates from gypsum and quartz dunes around Lake Lewis (Napperby), Northern Territory

An episode of high lake levels prior to the last maximum glaciation has been identified at many localities in wastern Australia. Similar events have been recognized at playa lakes in central Australia, where gypsum dunes along playa margins formed during one or more episodes of high groundwater discharge, with a large influx of calcium sulphate.At Lake Lewis, exposures at two islands show similar sediment sequences: three pedogenic gypcrete layers interbedded with aeolian quartz and gypsum sand horizons form three units within gypsum dunes up to 7 m high. The lowest unit has cliffed edges buried by the upper units, indicating a significant time break. Four TL dates (coarse-grained quartz) show that this lowest unit was deposited at or before 70–80 ka. The middle unit of mixed gypsum and quartz sand capped by gypcrete represents the major phase of gypsum dune formation, and 6 TL dates range from 33 to 46 ka with overlapping error bars. These are slightly younger but statistically similar to TL dates (from 39 to 59 ka) of the shoreline gypsum dune at Lake Amadeus in the same region. The top unit of the two islands, up to 1 m thick, has not yet been well dated. One date is inconsistent with the well dated middle layer below, possibly because of incomplete bleaching, and has been rejected. The other date (17 ± 5 ka) is much younger which possibly indicates a minor and local reactivation of old gypsum sediments. At the lake margin, there are quartz dunes overlying the gypsum dunes, and a buried aeolian quartz sand layer occurs in a lake-margin terrace. These represent reactivation of the regional quartz dune field after the major gypsum dune formation. Two consistent TL dates (21 ± 4 ka and 23 ± 6 ka) indicate that regional dunes were active at about the time of the Last Glacial Maximum.     

海南岛东北部海岸沙丘的沉积构造特征及其发育模式

海岸沙丘沉积构造中既有大型交错层理,也具某些区别于内陆沙丘构造的特征,如厚层顶积层的保存及变形层理的普遍存在。 本区海岸沙丘形成于东北季风,沙源来自海滩砂。从海滩后滨向陆地的沙丘类型依次是海岸前丘、横向沙丘和新月形沙丘、抛物线沙丘、纵向沙丘、海岸沙席。其中海岸前丘和沙席为海岸沙丘区别于内陆沙丘的特有类型。本区海岸沙丘的发育开始于3000年前。     

Lateral stability of central Australian longitudinal dunes

Some authors consider that linear dunes migrate laterally on a grand scale, much as rivers move across floodplains. Others have concluded that lateral movement is limited in time and space. During the phase of dune initiation, small ribbons of sand formed in the lee of obstacles merge and coalesce to form recognisable linear dunes. Repeat observations demonstrate that mature sand ridges change position laterally a few metres either way within close limits defined by sand spillages on the slip or avalanche slopes that change orientation in response to changing sand-moving wind directions. This essay considers evidence by which to differentiate these two points of view. Supporting evidence for limited migration take the form of dunes resting on plinths of older alluvial substrates, some capped by gibber and that stand higher than adjacent interdune corridors. Such exposures show that the sand ridges have not migrated laterally during the last several tens of thousands of years. Migration is inhibited by clay cores, calcareous (calcrete) horizons, and the development of vegetated flanks. For these reasons, it is proposed that lateral migration be defined as a change of dune plan position that is greater than the maximum extent of sand deposition that develops in response to changes in the direction of sand-moving winds.     

Measurements and numerical simulations of the degree of activity and vegetation cover on parabolic dunes in north-eastern Brazil

In this work we present measurements of vegetation cover over parabolic dunes with different degrees of activation along the north-eastern Brazilian coast. We extend the local values of the vegetation cover density to the whole dune by correlating measurements with the relative brightness index C of high resolution QuickBird panchromatic satellite images of the dune field. We then introduce the vegetation data into a continuous model for vegetated dunes, coupling sand erosion and vegetation growth, and perform simulations of the evolution of the morphology and vegetation cover of parabolic dunes. Finally, from the comparison of both, the measurements and the simulation results, we show that the model is able to predict the dune shape and the vegetation distribution of real parabolic dunes as result of the evolution of a blow-out.     

艾比湖流域抛物线形沙丘形态特征

选择新疆艾比湖流域精河县东南部梭梭林沙地中的典型抛物线形沙丘为研究对象,以风沙地貌学、遥感、地理信息系统及测量学理论为基础,利用野外调查3S工作平台,运用RTK技术实地获取三维基础数据,通过ArcGIS10.0软件生成沙丘DEM,有效提取沙丘的地形因子和形态特征,量化分析了抛物线形沙丘的三维形态特征。结果表明：所研究抛物线形沙丘的平面形态为“U”形和“V”形,开口面向NW,即区域盛行风向,沙丘弧顶凸出指向SE,即下风方向,沙丘长轴走向与当地合成风向或输沙方向一致;迎风坡较缓,沙质较粗;背风坡较陡,沙质较细;横剖面不对称,北翼角长于南翼角;主要植被类型为梭梭,伴有芨芨草为主的若干草本,主要分布在风蚀洼地及沙丘脊上。运用RTK技术所获得的三维数据中,96%的高程值误差小于0.02 m,数据可靠。     

库布齐沙漠南缘抛物线形沙丘表面风速与输沙率的变异

以库布齐沙漠南缘典型抛物线形沙丘为研究对象,选取3个沙丘前端活动区的纵断面和一个贯穿两翼及翼间平地的横断面,同步观测各个断面的风速与输沙率,讨论抛物线形沙丘表面形态-动力学过程。结果显示,沙丘前端活动区3个纵断面的风速和输沙率遵循一般变化规律,即沿迎风坡上升逐渐增加,至丘顶及附近达到最大,并在背风侧降低;二者在3个纵断面上的变化趋势一致,但具体变化形式不同,沙丘表面动力与输沙过程存在较大的空间异质性。沙丘两翼具有纵向沙丘的动力学性质,翼体两侧风速和输沙率具有对称性。该沙丘沙源匮缺,前端活动区主要依靠两翼内侧侵蚀提供沙源。受沙丘形状和植被等因素影响,坡脚及坡下部风速与输沙率之间没有相关性,因此简单的风速放大率和输沙率变化程度无法准确揭示该类型沙丘表面复杂的形态-动力学关系。     

Riverine dunes on the Coastal Plain of Georgia, USA

Relict eolian dunes on the Georgia Coastal Plain line the north and east sides of many SE-trending streams and contain important paleoenvironmental information. A detailed analysis of four dune fields characterizes dune geomorphology, stratigraphy, sedimentology and soils. Georgia's inland dunes range from parabolic to infilled parabolic to irregular in form, typically merge to form long chains that parallel source streams and can occur as distinct bands. Typically, the dunes are composed of >95% quartz sand grains, with more than half the sand falling in the medium sand fraction. Dunes overlie flood plain and pointbar sands, backswamp and peat deposits, fluvial terraces and other dunes. In places, organic deposits occur on top of dunes. Cross-bedding is observable in dunes more than about 4 m thick and indicates eastward dune migration. Paleosols found within some dunes indicate Holocene reworking. Conditions favoring dune formation likely included at least seasonal aridity. Postdepositional modification of the dunes includes a smoothing of the dune surface, a clay increase in the C horizon, spodic horizon development, bioturbation, removal of weatherable minerals and fluvial incision.     

Short-term beach–dune sand budgets on the north sea coast of France: Sand supply from shoreface to dunes, and the role of wind and fetch

Three experimental plots, covering the transition from the upper beach to the dune, on the North Sea coast of France were monitored at various intervals over a period of 18–24 months via high resolution terrain surveys in order to determine inter-site sand budget variability, as well as patterns and processes involved in sand exchanges between the upper beach and dune. The wind regime consists of a fairly balanced mix of moderate (80% of winds are below 8 m/s) onshore, offshore and shore-parallel winds. Sustained dune accretion over several years depends on the periodic local onshore welding of shoreface tidal banks that have developed in the storm- and tide-dominated setting of the southern North Sea. The only site where this has occurred in the recent past is Calais, where bank welding has created a wide accreting upper beach sand flat. At this site, significant sand supply from the subtidal sand bank reservoir to the upper beach flat occurred only once over the 18-month survey following a major storm. The bulk of the sand deposited over this large flat is not directly integrated into the adjacent embryo dunes by onshore winds but is progressively reworked in situ into developing dunes or transported alongshore by the balanced wind regime, thus resulting in alongshore stretching of the embryo dune system. The Leffrinckoucke site near Belgium shows moderate beach–dune mobility and accretion, while the Wissant site exhibits significant upper beach bedform mobility controlled by strong longshore currents that result in large beach budget fluctuations with little net budget change, to the detriment of the adjacent dunes. Accretion at these two sites, which are representative of the rest of the North Sea coast of France, is presently constrained by the absence of a shore-attached sand bank supply reservoir, while upper beach–dune sand exchanges are further limited by the narrow wave-affected upper beach, the intertidal morphology of bars and troughs which segments the aeolian fetch, and the moderate wind energy conditions. The balanced wind regime limits net sand mobilisation in favour of either the beach or the dune, and may explain the relatively narrow longshore morphology of the dune ridges bounding this coast.