Stratigraphic evidence for late-Holocene aeolian sand mobilization and soil formation in south-central Kansas, U.S.A.

Stratigraphic evidence and radiocarbon dating of sediments from the Great Bend Sand Prairie in Kansas indicates that significant deposits of aeolian sand have accumulated in the region during the late Holocene. Radiocarbon ages obtained from total humates in buried soils suggest that five periods of late-Holocene stability and soil formation are preserved in dune fields at approximately 2300, 1400, 1000, 700, 500 and 300 years B.P. Reactivation of aeolian sand in the past 1000 years has resulted in a variety of well defined, parabolic dunes. In general, events in the region correspond with established chronologies elsewhere on the Great Plains and in particular correlate well with dune fields in north-eastern Colorado. Overall, results indicate that the threshold of landscape stability on the Great Bend Sand Prairie can easily be crossed in the current climatic regime.     

Characteristics and Formation Mechanism of Wind Streaks on Mars

Wind streaks with two-dimensional plane shapes are a collective term for a variety of aeolian features that display distinctive albedo surface patterns and they do not have three-dimensional shape. Wind streaks are widely distributed on Mars， and are good proxy indicators of the surface wind regime， and even of global circulation patterns on Mars. However， the study on wind streaks has been largely ignored for a long time. Based on published studies， this paper summarized the types， morphology and formation mechanism of wind streaks. According to the relationship between albedo and obstacles， wind streaks can be divided into six basic types： bright wind streaks， dark wind streaks， mixed-tone wind streaks， splotches and related wind streaks， dune shadow wind streaks and frost wind streaks， of which the bright and dark streaks are the most common and representative， for they are the most abundant types of variable features on Mars. Wind streaks are primarily distributed in the latitudinal zone between 60°S and 60°N with little difference among different types， and they have many shapes such as tapered， fan， oval and parallel shapes due to the diverse obstacles. Considering the relationship between sediment characteristics and aeolian erosion and deposition， bright wind streaks are generally depositional with a consensus and dark streaks are erosional with a controversy. In the absence of Martian meteorological observation data， the retrieval of surface wind regime based on the orientation of wind streaks has good reliability， which helps to understand the modifications of Martian surfaces by wind in the geological context.     

Estimating the windward slope profile of a barchan dune

A new theoretical scheme is presented to model the shape of a sand dune at equilibrium that does not require iterative calculations of the interaction between the wind flow and topography. The model is constructed by incorporating theory based on aerodynamics into a grain‐scale model that estimates the shear velocity at the dune crest through the calculation of the sand trapping efficiency of the slipface in the lee of the dune. Published field data, collected in southern Peru, California and southern Morocco, show that as a dune becomes higher the windward slope becomes steeper. For the model proposed, the wind flow over a dune was first assumed to be similar to that over a Gaussian hill. By further assuming a fixed shear velocity on the level surface, the windward slope angle and migration speed of dunes in southern Peru can be explained. To comply with all available data, some aspects are still open to further investigation. However the theoretical insight presented herein implies that the upper limit of dune height may be greater in windier environments.     

Trapping of aeolian sediments and build‐up of the ice cover of a dry‐based Antarctic lake

Among the perennially frozen lakes of the Dry Valleys of South Victoria Land (Antarctica), some are dry‐based, i.e. frozen to the bottom. One of these is studied here by a multiparametric investigation (isotopic composition in δD and δ¹⁸O, ions, gas and ice texture analyses). A sediment layer about 10 cm thick appearing at a depth of 3·5 m is also studied by grain size, X‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope analyses. The information retrieved indicates that this ice‐block lake results from a build‐up in two steps and explains how aeolian sediments were included as a layer into the ice. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

青海湖湖东沙地沉积记录的全新世以来风沙活动变化

青海湖湖东沙地典型剖面的AMS¹⁴C测年数据表明该剖面记录了当地约10 ka BP的风沙活动及环境变化。对沉积物的粒度组成特征、粒度参数、粒度环境敏感指标等分析,并结合沉积物磁化率和青海湖盆地相关研究中风成砂、黄土和弱发育古土壤、古土壤的OSL、AMS¹⁴C年代数据等,进行全新世以来的风沙活动及气候环境变化讨论。结果表明：（1）粗颗粒敏感组分（138~156μm）可以用来指示风沙活动的强弱,细颗粒敏感组分（2~5 μm）可以用来指示成壤作用。（2）10~9ka青海湖盆地气候状况较全新世之前略有好转,暖湿程度增加,部分区域开始发育古土壤,但总体上古土壤、弱发育古土壤、黄土、风成砂共存;9~4.2 ka青海湖盆地水热组合条件较好,风沙活动弱,大部分沙丘固定成壤,但9~8 ka和4.2 ka左右风沙活动较为频繁的特征可能指示了8.2 ka和4ka冷事件;4.2 ka之后特别是2 ka之后风沙活动显著增强,气候朝干冷化发展。     

青海共和盆地风况及风沙地貌

利用共和盆地茶卡、共和、贵南站2012-2015年的风资料,分析盆地风向、风速和输沙势的变化特征,并结合Google Earth高清影像,对盆地风能环境与风沙地貌进行探讨。结果表明：（1）盆地年平均风速1.6～2.7 m·s^-1,西北部、中部和东南部年起沙风出现的频率分别为7.7%、3.5%、0.9%,起沙风主要发生在冬、春季,风向以WNW和W为主。（2）盆地属于低风能环境,风沙活动自西北部向东南部减弱,方向变率指数0.7～0.96,风况为窄单峰或宽单峰风况,西北部和中部风向变率属于低变率,东南部属于中等变率,合成输沙方向较一致,为281.0°～286.7°。（3）盆地沙丘类型有新月形沙丘（链）、格状沙丘、复合型链状沙丘、沙山、沙垄、抛物线沙丘等,沙丘类型和风况较吻合。     

半干旱区不同类型沙丘风沙流结构特征

采用两种阶梯式集沙仪和小型气象站于2017年4—5月对科尔沁沙地流动沙丘、半固定沙丘和固定沙丘0~75 cm气流层风沙流的总输沙量、输沙率、粒径组成分布和风蚀特征值进行了观测。结果表明：（1）随着高度增加,总输沙量下降,随着风速增加,总输沙量上升;92.20%~95.60%的输沙量发生在0~21 cm高度。（2）总输沙率（Q）流动沙丘>半固定沙丘>固定沙丘,将Q与地上200 cm风速进行函数拟合,流动沙丘幂函数最佳（R²=0.986）,半固定（R²=0.990）和固定沙丘（R²=0.956）指数函数最佳。（3）将各高度的输沙率与地上200 cm风速进行函数拟合,流动沙丘（R²≥0.905）和半固定沙丘（R²≥0.968）拟合度幂函数好于指数函数,固定沙丘（R²≥0.923）指数函数优于幂函数。（4）在一定高度下,3类沙丘输沙率均随着风速的增加而增加;在一定风速下,输沙率随着高度的增加而逐渐递减。（5）3类沙丘的特征值随着风速的增加呈现出逐渐递增的趋势;流动沙丘以λ>1为主,表现出持续侵蚀输送沙粒的能力;半固定沙丘当风速>9.0 m·s^-1时逐渐出现侵蚀状态;固定沙丘以λ<1为主,近地表风沙以堆积状态为主。（6）3类沙丘主要由粒径为0.1~0.25 mm的细沙构成,在0~30 cm高度,细沙占输沙量的50.09%~85.11%,在30~75 cm高度,细沙占输沙量的43.53%~75.53%。     

呼伦贝尔沙地风蚀坑粒度特征及其环境意义

对呼伦贝尔沙地现代风蚀坑表层沙质沉积物与坑后沙丘垂直剖面沉积物进行了粒度分析,讨论了坑后沙丘剖面的形成过程及风成沙粒度变化的原因。结果表明：呼伦贝尔沙地风蚀坑表面及坑后沙丘剖面沉积物粒径以细沙和中沙为主;风蚀坑表面沉积物粒径及分选参数在风蚀坑各部位呈现波动式变化;平坦草地上的现代土壤与坑后沙丘下伏古土壤为同一层。基于粒度和沙丘移动过程综合分析,认为坑后沙丘剖面中风成沙粒度的垂向变化与沙丘在堆积和移动过程中剖面在坑后沙丘相对位置的变化具有紧密联系,密集采样得出的剖面中风成沙粒度的垂向变化是否能直接指示区域气候环境变化值得商榷。     

Effects of Time-dependent Moisture Content of Surface Sediments on Aeolian Transport Rates Across a Beach,Wildwood, New Jersey,U.S.A.

A one-day field investigation on an unvegetated backbeach documents the importance of surface sediment drying to aeolian transport. Surface sediments were well sorted fine sand. Moisture content of samples taken in the moist areas on the backbeach varied from 2·9 to 9·2 per cent. Lack of dry sediment inhibited transport prior to 08:50. By 09:10 conspicuous streamers of dry sand moved across the moist surface. Barchan-shaped bedforms, 30 to 40 mm high and composed of dry sand (moisture content <0·10 per cent), formed where sand streamers converged. The surface composed of dry sand increased from 5 per cent of the area of the backbeach at 09:50 to 90 per cent by 12:50 Mean wind speeds were beetween 5·6 and 8·6 m s⁻¹ at 6 m above the backbeach. Corresponding shear velocities were always above the entrainment threshold for dry sand and below the threshold for the moist sand on the backbeach. Measured rates of sand trapped (by vertical cylindrical traps) increased during the day relative to calculated rates. The measured rate of sand trapped on the moist foreshore was higher than the rate trapped on the backbeach during the same interval, indicating that the moist foreshore (moisture content 18 per cent) was an efficient transport surface for sediment delivered from the dry portion of the beach upwind. Measured rates of sand trapped show no clear relationship to shear velocities unless time-dependent surface moisture content is considered. Results document conditions that describe transport across moist surfaces in terms of four stages including: (1) entrainment of moist sediment from a moist surface; (2) in situ drying of surface grains from a moist surface followed by transport across the surface; (3) entrainment and transport of dry sediment from bedforms that have accumulated on the moist surface; and (4) entrainment of sand from a dry upwind source and transport across a moist downwind surface. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Origin and Distribution of Salts on Alluvial Fans in The Atacama Desert,Northern Chile

The Atacama Desert has been predominantly hyperarid since the middle Miocene. Combined ionic and X-ray diffraction analysis shows that calcium sulphate is prevalent on three similar alluvial fans in salar basins across a transect of different environments in Antofagasta Province, northern Chile. Differences between the fans were largely due to the effect of local factors on salt input, secondary redistribution and deposit preservation. Thus carbonate was notable in the High Andes (fan C) and Pre-Cordillera (fan B), whereas in the Central Valley (fan A) greater qualities of the more soluble salts (chlorides and nitrates) probably reflect the higher level of aridity and an oceanic source (the camanchaca). Calcium sulphate distribution on the alluvial fans and on adjacent hilltops indicates an aeolian origin. Evidence from the Pre-Cordillera (fan B), however, suggests that salt input may have been episodic, related to changes in conditions within the general aridity and possibly to stone pavement and soil development. Calcium sulphate sources range from an input in Andean precipitation and the camanchaca to abundant regional evaporite deposits. It is probable, however, that products of Andean volcanism constitute the dominant primary source of calcium sulphate, and that the salt has subsequently been distributed widely within the endoreic basins of the region by a combination of groundwater, surface flow and the wind. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.