TOPOGRAPHIC EFFECTS ON VENTIFACT DEVELOPMENT,MOJAVE DESERT,CALIFORNIA

I nvestigations into processes of ventifact formation in the east-central Mojave Desert, California confirm the importance of topography as a control in the location, orientation, and intensity of ventifact abrasion. Ventifacts in the region appear to be relict in nature and probably formed during a period that ended several thousand years ago. Comparison of groove orientations with available wind data shows that regional flow direction has not changed in the recent past. Although west to northwest winds are the most frequent and intense, and therefore dictate the regional erosion pattern, low to moderate southeasterly flow is recorded on ventifacts near the crests of hills owing to the effects of velocity acceleration. Two conditions that affect ventifact development are considered in this paper: (1) wind acceleration through topographic constrictions; and (2) wind acceleration up the windward flanks of hills. Constrictions in the Barstow-Bristol trough allowed velocity increases that resulted in ventifaction on 70–90 percent of all exposed cobbles and boulders. Velocity acceleration towards the crests of hills caused a marked increase in sand transport and resultant abrasion, as expressed by increases in groove and pit dimensions. [Key words: Aeolian geomorphology, ventifacts, Mojave Desert, California.]     

Effects of fetch and surface texture on aeolian sand transport on two nourished beaches

Aeolian sand transport on two nourished beaches was related to the fetch of the wind over the beach sand and to surface characteristics. Meteorological and hydrological conditions were recorded for 2 months. The fetch of wind over beach sand was estimated from wind direction, water level, wave height and beach topography. Aeolian sand transport was determined with sand traps. Sediment flux was found to increase with fetch, although this relation was especially affected by the variability in surface characteristics. On one of the beaches sediment supply was limited as a result of shells, forming a lag deposit.     

Ventifacts and wind-abraded rock features in the Taylor Valley, Antarctica

An area north of Lake Fryxell in the Taylor Valley, Antarctica, was surveyed to determine the frequency of occurrence of rocks that show strong evidence of wind abrasion and ventifaction, which is defined here as rocks having well-developed faceting, to define their relative abundance in this area of the ice-free McMurdo Dry Valley system and to provide an indication of the role of wind as a geomorphic agent in this area. The orientation of abrasion-caused features (facets, keels, and grooves) with respect to the present day wind regime is also described. Rocks were examined on five linear transects ranging from 300 to 510 m in length. A total of 1324 rocks were examined. On average, 60% of all rocks exhibited distinct wind abrasion features with polish being the most common feature and polished rocks were distributed equally between survey lines, suggesting abrasion was ubiquitous in the study area. Approximately 4% of the rocks had distinct facets and/or keels, and fine-grained ultramafic peridotite-type rocks produced the most finely-featured forms (i.e., sharp facet edges and keels). A larger percentage, ≈ 12.5%, had grooves. Grooves were typically associated with a tabular form of mafic diabase-type igneous rock. The distribution of faceted ventifacts and grooved rocks was not uniform for the five transects, suggesting that the distribution mechanism for the surface rocks and the source areas determined, to a large extent, what form of ventifact could be produced at a location. The orientation of the grooves and dip directions of the facets indicates the direction of the abrasive winds had a strong westerly component, which coincides with the modern wind regime of winter katabatic flows that move down valley toward the Ross Sea. The orientation of the facets and grooves suggests that the rate of formation of the ventifacts proceeds at a pace greater than other surficial processes (e.g., down-slope soil movement, cryoturbation), which should tend to remove trends in the facet and groove orientations, or that the down-slope movement of the surface is approximately perpendicular to the wind allowing preservation of the alignment.     

鄱阳湖沙地沉积物粒度特征及其影响因素北大核心CSCD

鄱阳湖沙地是亚热带湿润区典型风沙化土地,土地沙化问题严峻。鄱阳湖沙地研究多在小范围开展,研究意义有限,应在多处进行沙地粒度比对研究。选取庐山市、都昌县、永修县和南昌市新建区等沙地样品57个,分析其粒度特征。结果表明:(1)鄱阳湖沙地主要由中沙、细沙和粗沙组成,三者总含量超90%;Mz均值为1.79Φ,分选较差,呈正偏和尖锐分布;(2)鄱阳湖沙地不同土地类型沉积物表层(0-5 cm)与20-40 cm深度粒度特征存在一定差异,固定沙丘、半固定沙丘、流动沙丘和河滩表层比20-40 cm深度粒径大,但流动沙丘和湿地草滩表层分选优于20-40 cm深度;湿地草滩和河滩优势粒级含量和粒度参数有别于沙丘;(3)鄱阳湖沙地固定沙丘、半固定沙丘和流动沙丘为风成沉积;河滩以河流作用为主,风蚀为辅;湿地草滩是在风力和水动力共同作用下形成的。鄱阳湖沙地沿盛行风向从南到北S、SK、K依次减小,风沙运动多以两跳一悬式为主,以就地起沙为主,河滩湖滩作为补充。     

察尔汗盐湖雅丹地貌区风况分析

输沙势（DP）是风沙地貌研究中使用的一个重要参数,但是在风蚀地貌,如雅丹地貌研究中,鲜有使用者。本文利用建立在察尔汗盐湖雅丹地貌区的自动气象观测仪所记录的风速数据,分析了雅丹地貌区的风速、风向及输沙势变化特征。结果表明:该区起沙风的月平均风速在6.2～7.4 m·s-1之间波动,月最大风速变化范围为9.9～15.0 m·s-1。起沙风主要发生于春、夏两季,发生频率分别为39.63%、31.45%。起沙风风向以WNW、W为主,分别占年起沙风的41.05%、20.02%。年DP为326 VU,年RDP为235 VU,为中风能环境。年净输沙方向为ESE。方向变率指数（RDP/DP）0.72,为中比率,对应风向变率也为中等,为钝双峰风况。雅丹体长轴走向与盛行风向基本一致,该区雅丹地貌的形成以风力作用为主。     

风沙活动区工程线路走向与风沙危害程度的关系--以塔里木沙漠公路为例

在风沙活动区,公路或铁路等工程线路的走向无疑会对其本身及防护体系所受的风沙危害程度产生影响。本文以塔里木沙漠公路为例,提出在将风况与公路走向结合起来考虑的同时,以风沙活动强度垂直分量的转化率作为评价公路走向的一种数学方法,并用该方法对沙漠公路不同路段走向进行评价与说明。     

Ventifacts on Earth and Mars: Analytical, field, and laboratory studies supporting sand abrasion and windward feature development

Terrestrial ventifacts – rocks that have been abraded by windblown particles – are found in desert, periglacial, and coastal environments. On Mars, their abundance suggests that aeolian abrasion is one of the most significant erosional processes on the planet. There are several conflicting viewpoints concerning the efficacy of potential abrasive agents, principally sand and dust, and the relationships between wind direction and ventifact form. Our research, supported by a review of the literature, shows that sand, rather than dust or other materials, is the principle abrasive agent on Earth and Mars. Relative to dust, sand delivers about 1000× the energy onto rock surfaces on a per particle basis. Even multiple dust collisions will do little or no damage because the stress field from the impact is much smaller than the spacing of microflaws in the rock. The abrasion profiles of terrestrial ventifacts are consistent with a kinetic energy flux due to saltating sand, not airborne dust. Furthermore, Scanning Electron Microscope images reveal surfaces that are fractured and cleaved by sand grain impact. With respect to their distribution, ventifacts are found in regions that contain sand or did so in the past, but are not found where only dust activity occurs. Contrary to some published reports, our evidence from field studies, analytical models, and wind tunnel and other experiments indicates that windward, not leeward, abrasion is responsible for facet development and feature formation (pits, flutes, and grooves). Leeward abrasion is confined to fluvial conditions, in which the high viscosity and density of water are able to entrain sand-size material in vortices. Therefore, ventifacts and abraded terrain provide an unambiguous proxy for the direction of the highest velocity winds, and can be used to reconstruct palaeowind flow.     

海南岛东部铜鼓岭岸段港湾岸滩沉积特征

海南岛东部铜鼓岭岬角南、北两侧的淇水湾和月亮湾海岸海滩均为中粗砂海滩,其中值粒径和平均粒径主要分布在0~2 Ф之间,反映了海南岛东部动力作用整体较强。月亮湾近岸20 m水深处沉积物的中值粒径主要分布在-1~-3 Ф之间,主要以砾石为主;10~20 m水深处沉积物中值粒径分布在-1~0 Ф之间,以极粗砂为主;铜鼓岭南部淇水湾,以粗砂为主,部分区域出现细砂,反映海滩受到的动力条件不如北部月亮湾海岸海滩显著。造成这种差异的主要原因是铜鼓岭岬角对东北向(主风向)风浪的阻挡和岬角南部港湾有宽广的珊瑚礁平台对波浪的消能。而且,淇水湾海岸北部和南部也有差异,北部珊瑚礁平台受到破坏,对波浪的消浪较弱,从而表现同一海滩滩面物质分布的南北差异。     

1957-2014年库布齐沙漠地面风场特征

风对沙漠化过程具有重要影响,起沙风是塑造沙漠地貌格局的主要动力。根据1957-2014年库布齐沙漠周边4个基准气象站的地面风资料,从风速、风向和输沙势等方面分析库布齐沙漠的地面风场特征。结果显示：（1）库布齐沙漠的起沙风频率与平均风速有很高的相关性;（2）年平均风速为2.7 m·s^-1,全年盛行风向为WNW-NW,为中等变率锐双峰风况,合成输沙风向约为310°。4月风速最大,为中等变率环境;8月风速较小,为高变率环境;1月风速最小,为低变率环境。3-6月风速最大,风向集中度一般;11月至翌年2月风速较大,风向集中度高;7-10月风速最小,风向集中度差;（3）20世纪80年代中后期和2007年前后风速、起沙风频率和输沙势发生了较大变化,尤其是2007年前后由减小向增大发展;（4）大气环流和地表粗糙度的改变是库布齐沙漠地面风场变化的重要原因。     

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.     

海滩养护影响下的海岸风沙堆积——以福建平潭岛龙凤头海滩养护工程为例

海滩养护工程实施后,在保护海岸抵御侵蚀的同时往往还产生其他的环境问题。尤其在强风区海岸,海滩养护造成了滩面环境的改变,使滩面风沙搬运和沉积特征都发生了显著变化。对福建平潭岛龙凤头海滩养护工程实施前后的风沙沉积对比研究表明,养护后海滩的干滩宽度、滩面沉积物粒径、表层湿度、海滩高程等环境要素变化对滩面风沙搬运与沉积过程都产生了重要的影响。主要结论为:(1)养护海滩干滩滩肩高程的提高增加了滩面风速,增大了滩面风沙输沙率;(2)养护海滩干滩宽度的增加既扩大了风区长度也为风沙搬运提供了充足的物源,且不受潮汐过程影响,提供了持续的风沙物源供给,增加了风沙作用时间;(3)养护海滩剖面形态的变化使得海滩滩面沉积物含水率减小,降低风沙起动风速,增强了滩面风沙搬运。     

An analysis of subaerial beach rotation and influences of environmental forcing adjacent to the proposed Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon

Beach Profiles surveys and gale climate data were utilised to assess medium timescale beach rotation at four beaches located along the shores of a crenulated embayment within Swansea Bay, Southwest Wales. The proposed Tidal Lagoon is located within this Bay. Results identified a 7 year (1998–2005) record of cyclic summer/winter rotation and a 14 year (1999–2013) record of annual rotation within the subaerial zone on all four assessed beaches. In the absence of headlands to trap sediment it is asserted that the driving force for beach rotation is the presence of Swansea Dockland/Tawe dredged channel complex, Port Talbot Harbour and the Neath dredged channel which form surrogate headlands essentially creating four separate beach systems through restricting sediment by-pass. Seasonal averaged wind and wave variables showed differing correlation with volume changes and cross-correlation results showed that volume variation lagged behind forcing variables by up to six months (i.e. the resolution of the data). This was confirmed by the annually averaged results which showed only subtle correlation. Here volume change in most cases lagged forcing variables by less than one year. Based on correlations, wind direction variability follows closely with volume changes but wind speed, wave period and height are generally opposite. Initial results suggest that the proposed Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon, located between sediment cells and surrogate headlands, would have little negative effect on subaerial coastal processes. These datasets will be used as a benchmark for monitoring prior to, during and post construction, with results being used to update and inform subsequent strategies.     

响水河中游右岸沙丘群粒度分布特征

在野外实地考察和测量的基础上,沿盛行风向,对西辽河平原西部响水河中游右岸普遍发育的新月形沙丘链进行样品采集。经室内激光粒度仪测定,研究了河岸沙丘粒度分布规律。结果表明：（1）响水河右岸沙丘及丘间地以中沙为主,而河谷谷底细沙含量最多,平沙地次之。（2）滨岸沙丘由迎风坡脚到丘顶平均粒径变小,远岸沙丘由迎风坡脚到丘顶平均粒径变大;多数沙丘分选性由两侧坡脚到丘顶变好;多数沙丘丘顶偏度值和峰态值大于两侧坡脚。（3）滨岸沙丘受风、水两相作用,能从较深地层获得沙源;其下风向沙丘主要受风力作用,沙源主要为丘间地沙及上风向风沙流携带的较细沙。     

海岸沙丘沙运动特征若干问题的研究——以闽江口南岸为例

在海岸带,沙粒粒径和水分含量是决定沙粒起动风速的最主要因素。闽江口南岸海滩沙的平均粒径为2.0Φ,水分含量多在0.3%~1.0%之间。运用Johnson的经验公式,可计算出海滩沙的起动风速为6~7m/s。这一结果与实际观测值十分吻合。由于海岸环境因素的影响,使得同等条件下海岸带沙粒的起动风速明显大于内陆沙漠沙,而风沙流的输沙率明显小于内陆沙漠沙。海岸带是风速剧变带,在引用陆地气象台站的风速记录分析海岸风况和研究风沙运动规律时,必须对风速进行订正。     

The dynamic effects of moisture on the entrainment and transport of sand by wind

There is an increasing awareness of the influence of surface moisture on aeolian entrainment and transport of sediment. Existing wind tunnel studies have shown the impact of a limited range of moisture contents on entrainment thresholds but similar investigations are lacking in the field. The research reported here investigated the influence of changes in surface moisture content on sand entrainment and transport on a meso-tidal beach in Anglesey, North Wales.High frequency (1 Hz) wind velocities measured with hot-wire anemometers were combined with grain impact data from a Sensit monitor and mass flux measurements from a standard sand trap. Surface and near-surface moisture contents were assessed gravimetrically from surface sand scrapes and also directly by using a ThetaProbe. Critical threshold values for entrainment were specified using a modified form of the time fraction equivalence method (Stout, J.E., Zobeck, T.M., 1996a. Establishing the threshold condition for soil movement in wind-eroding fields. Proceedings of the International Conference on Air Pollution from Agricultural Operations. MWPS C-3, Kansas City, 7–9 February 1996, pp. 65–71).Results indicate a time-dependent change in dominant control of the sand transport system from moisture to wind speed, dependent upon the moisture content of the surface sediment. This interchange between controlling parameters on both entrainment and transport was very sensitive to prevailing moisture conditions and took place over a period of minutes to hours. Under conditions experienced in the experiments presented here, the critical moisture threshold for sediment entrainment was determined to be between 4% and 6%, higher than the 1–4% specified in previous wind tunnel experiments. Furthermore, a moisture content of nearly 2% (where moisture was adhered to transported sediment) appeared to have little or no impact on the rate of sand flux.     

Aeolian sand transport along beaches

Storm‐generated ephemeral transverse sand ridges were observed developing along the beach fronting Sir Richard Peninsula, South Australia during 25 March 1984. The ridges displayed a mean height of 10 cm and a wavelength of 12 m; their breadth was approximately 2 m, and length varied with beach width but ranged up to 40 m over 10 km of coastline. The steeper sides of the ridges faced upwind due to erosion after initial ridge development. Damp sand in the swales inhibited wind scour and restricted sand supply, but provided a firm substrate over which the sand could saltate. Approximately 5000 m³ of sand were incorporated into the ridges by westerly winds blowing at velocities between 45 and 69 km/hr. This observation emphasises the role of alongshore winds in transporting beach sediments and developing essentially ephemeral forms, which might, nevertheless, be preserved in the geological record. The significance of these forms varies with coastal orientation and local wind regimes.     

Evidence of early Holocene closed-basin conditions in the Huron-Georgian basins from within the North Bay outlet of the upper Great Lakes

Sub-bottom profiling and coring were undertaken at eight sub-basins along the lower French River and at five small lakes near North Bay, Ontario, to collect stratigraphical and chronological evidence to investigate whether lakes occupying the Huron–Georgian basins during the early- to mid-Holocene became hydrologically closed. All of the coring sites are located within the route of the North Bay outlet that carried outflow from the upper Great Lakes during this period. Sand beds containing organic detritus are present within five cores from Muskrat, Crombie and Deep bays that otherwise are composed of glaciolacustrine rhythmites or fine-grained lacustrine deposits. These sand beds are interpreted to represent intervals when water levels within the sub-basins were lower than present, based on chronology, sediment texture, and macrofossil assemblages. It is inferred that the water surface in the Huron–Georgian basins fell below the level of the Dalles Rapids sill isolating the lower French River sub-basins from the large lake. A core from Depensier Lake, North Bay, contains an organic-rich sand interval within a thicker sand unit barren of organic materials. Macrofossils within this organic-rich interval are interpreted to be evidence of substantially diminished flow through the North Bay outlet channel. Radiocarbon dates of terrestrial macrofossils provide correlation of the sand beds between the French River cores as well as with the organic-rich sand in the Depensier Lake core. The possibility that the sand beds in the French River cores represent flood deposits rather than evidence of hydrologically closed conditions is considered, but rejected, based on the occurrence of multiple peaty layers and the record of shallow water conditions inferred from macrofossils within the upper sand bed of core MUS1, Muskrat Bay, in combination with the evidence of quiescent depositional conditions from similarly aged macrofossils in the core from Depensier Lake. Eight radiocarbon dates from the French River cores are incorporated into an elevation-age plot of paleo-indicators of water levels in the Huron–Georgian basins, using additional data from the literature. This plot and stratigraphic evidence from the Muskrat Bay cores indicates that separate closed-basin intervals occurred between 9.0 and 8.4, and 9.5 and 9.3 ka cal BP (~ 8.1 and 7.6, and ~ 8.5 and 8.3 ka BP). The occurrence of these two closed-basin intervals between 9.6 and 8.4 ka cal BP (~ 8.7 and 7.6 ka BP) implies that run-off derived exclusively from precipitation within the non-glaciated portions of the upper Great Lakes drainage basins was likely insufficient at this time to support an open-basin lake hydrology during the contemporary climate, which was colder and drier than present, without being supplemented from glacial Lake Agassiz overflow and/or Laurentide Ice Sheet meltwater.     

Development and setting of the Alcudia Bay beach–dune system (Mallorca, Spain)

The beach–dune system of Alcudia Bay is located in the north of the island of Mallorca. The system includes both simple and compound parabolic dunes formed by N to NNE winds and is made up of two dune areas with different dynamics: 1) the northern area, where, despite the fact that the source of beach sediment is from the south, dunes are formed by northerly winds and develop a narrow and linear barrier which separates a marsh from the bay; and 2) the southern area, where complex parabolic dunes formed by north-northeasterly winds, prograde south-southwest landward extending several kilometers inland. The broad pattern of the dunefield size is limited to the southeast by a mountain range and to the west by the effects of a topographic corridor, oriented north–south, which channels the prevailing northerly wind, causing a southward dune progression and limiting the westward extension of the dunefield.     

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。     

巴丹吉林沙漠沙山发育与环境演变研究

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