Regional grain size variations in aeolian sediments along the transition between Tibetan highlands and north‐western Chinese deserts – the influence of geomorphological settings on aeolian transport pathways

Sediment distribution is investigated applying grain size analysis to 279 surface samples from the transitional zone between high mountains (Qilian Shan) and their arid forelands (Hexi Corridor) in north‐western China. Six main sediment types were classified. Medium scale (10³ m) geomorphological setting is carefully considered as it may play an important role concerning sediment supply and availability. A tripartite distribution of sedimentological landscape units along the mountain to foreland transition is evident. Aeolian sediments (e.g. loess and dune sands) are widespread. They are used to identify aeolian transport pathways. The mU/fS‐ratio (5–11 µm/48–70 µm) among primary loess opposes the two grain size fractions being most sensitive to varying accumulation conditions. The first fraction is attributed to long‐distance transport in high suspension clouds whereas the latter represents local transport in saltation mode. The ratio shows strong correlation with elevation (R² = 0.77). Thus, it indicates a relatively higher far‐traveled dust supply in mountainous areas (>3000 m above sea level [a.s.l.]) compared to the foreland. The contribution of westerlies to high mountain loess deposits is considered likely. Hereby, the influence of the geomorphological setting on grain size composition of aeolian sediments becomes apparent: the contribution from distant dust sources is ubiquitous in the study area. However, the far‐distance contribution may be reduced by the availability of fine sand provided in low topography settings. Plain foreland areas support fine sand deflation from supplying river beds, allowing the formation of sandy loess in foreland areas and intramontane basins. In contrast, high mountain topography inhibits strong sand deflation into loess deposits. Eastern parts of the Hexi Corridor show higher aeolian sand occurrence. In contrast, the western parts are dominated by gravel gobi surfaces. This is attributed to higher sand supply in eastern parts provided by the Badain Jaran Desert and fluvial storages as sand sources. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of local topography for wind direction on Mars: two examples of dune fields in crater basins

In this work, we perform an analysis of large dark dunes within Moreux Crater and Herschel Crater on Mars using High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) and Context Camera (CTX) data sets. These data allow us to conduct a detailed analysis of dune morphology and slip faces, concluding that the studied dune fields are influenced by topographically‐controlled complex wind directions. Our morphological analysis reveals that inside Moreux Crater in particular, the topographic setting dominates the wind flow direction, leading to the development of a sand transport pathway encircling the central peak of the crater. The dune fields in Herschel Crater are also affected by winds controlled by variable topography as suggested by the presence of complex dunes and dune fields. Our analysis indicate that the studied dune systems is not the result of paleo‐wind regimes. Furthermore, we perform thermal inertia measurements using thermal emission spectrometer (TES) data, which indicate that the studied dune fields consist of medium sand 250–500 µm in diameter. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The response of saltation to wind speed fluctuations

The response time of saltation to spatial or temporal wind speed fluctuations constitutes an important control parameter for aeolian sediment transport and deposition. In this paper, we present direct measurements of the response time obtained from several field experiments. The sand transport was studied using six small microphones arranged in a vertical profile and collocated with a sonic anemometer, a webcam and a cup anemometer tower. The webcam was coupled with the sonic anemometer via a personal computer and provides information on creeping and saltating grains with a sampling rate of 10 Hz. Sediment transport measurements were obtained over four periods. The Wiener filter, a signal processing technique, is used to obtain a discrete transfer function that relates the horizontal wind speed and the non‐intermittent sand transport. The transfer function can be established using an exponential function with a time constant or characteristic response time τ without time shift. The response time fluctuated between zero and 1·5 seconds depending on the turbulence intensity, the saltation activity, the measuring height and sampling rates. The Wiener filter coefficients suggest that the response of saltation to wind speed alterations is determined by more than one process. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

库姆塔格沙漠风沙地貌遗产的旅游开发

对库姆塔格沙漠风沙地貌遗产进行旅游开发,既有利于“大敦煌”地区人-地关系的和谐演进,又有利于全面推进“大敦煌”地区旅游业的可持续发展。应用观察法、描述法、系统调查分析法等定性研究方法,在阐述库姆塔格沙漠风沙地貌遗产旅游开发意义的基础上,建设性地提出将库姆塔格沙漠风沙地貌遗产开发为旅游产品、旅游商品和旅游节事的途径、方式和方法。最后,根据风沙地貌特征和旅游发展需要,指出对库姆塔格沙漠风沙地貌遗产进行旅游开发时应该注意的生态环境保护、旅游形象和安全管理、基础设施建设等问题。     

基于释光测年的福建晋江海岸沙丘粒度记录的风沙活动

采用OSL测年技术对福建晋江海岸沙丘剖面(SHA) 进行加密采样测年和粒度分析,初步确定了研究区近1000a 以来海岸沙丘发育的主要时段,以OSL测年值为基础,在统一时间标尺上综合对比东亚季风变化序列和福建沿海地区台风登陆记录,探讨了控制研究区海岸沙丘发育的主要因素.研究表明：(1) SHA沙丘表现为典型的海岸风成砂特征,海岸沙丘沉积后受风力侵蚀和后期化学风化作用的影响,粒径变粗,分选性变差,各粒级组分和粒度参数特征发生较大变化;(2) 近1000a 以来晋江海岸带海岸沙丘发育可划分为3 个时期,分别为AD1050~1300、AD1470~1600、AD1720~1950,尤其是小冰期(LIA),海岸风沙活动强烈,海岸沙丘发育盛行;(3) 近千年来区域降水量、海平面和台风强度变化与研究区海岸沙丘发育之间的关系尚不明确,而冬季风强度对海岸沙丘发育的影响明显,即海岸风沙活动期主要对应冬季风较强时期,但近50 年来海岸风沙活动较弱除了主要受冬季风减弱影响外,主要与人类经济活动所造成的地表覆被条件发生变化有关.     

风成沙波纹的数值模拟及稳定性分析

本文基于颗粒的质量守恒原理,考虑了沙粒的跃移、溅移和蠕移运动,建立了风成沙波纹的非线性积分微分演化方程,并进而通过尺度变换得到了近似的微分方程。数值求解该微分方程,得到了与野外观测相一致的沙波纹斑图,同时再现了沙波纹生成、合并的非线性行为,为进一步风成地貌形成演化的理论分析提供了一种可行的数学物理方法。     

柴达木盆地中部与西南部古沙丘的光释光年代学研究

青藏高原东北部的柴达木盆地广泛分布着风成沉积,其中古沙丘主要分布在盆地东部、中部三湖区和西南缘。柴达木盆地中部和西南部两处古沙丘集中分布区靠近柴达木盆地盐湖区,与盐湖的演化有着密不可分的联系,但是这些古沙丘的形成时代至今没有具体研究。本文应用光释光定年的单片再生剂量法对这两个区域典型的古沙丘进行了风成砂沉积年代测定。结果显示研究区古沙丘的堆积开始于约4~3 ka,并延续至0.5 ka之后被固定,其形成与柴达木盆地晚全新世气候的干旱和盆地内湖泊退缩引起的砂源增加有关;古沙丘下伏的河流相沉积物形成于末次冰消期（12.6±0.8 ka）。古沙丘的固定事件对应青藏高原东北部的冰川前进期,冰川前进期的低温条件可以引起盆地内蒸发量下降和有效湿度相对增加,从而促使植被条件改善并最终使沙丘固定。     

A Wind Tunnel Investigation of the Shear Stress with A Blowing Sand Cloud

In a blowing sand system,the wind provides the driving forces for the particle movement while the moving particles exert the opposite forces to the wind by extracting its momentum.The wind-sand interaction that can be characterized by shear stress and force exerted on the wind by moving particles results in the modification of wind profiles.Detailed wind pro-files re-adapted to blown sand movement are measured in a wind tunnel for different grain size populations and at differ-ent free-stream wind velocities.The shear stress with a blowing sand cloud and force exerted on the wind by moving par-ticles are calculated from the measured wind velocity profiles.The results suggest that the wind profiles with presence of blowing sand cloud assume convex-upward curves on the u(z)-ln(z) plot compared with the straight lines characterizing the velocity profiles of clean wind,and they can be better fitted by power function than log-linear function.The exponent of the power function ranging from 0.1 to 0.17 tends to increase with an increase in wind velocity but decrease with an increase in particle size.The force per unit volume exerted on the wind by blown sand drift that is calculated based on the empirical power functions for the wind velocity profiles is found to decrease with height.The particle-induced force makes the total shear stress with blowing sand cloud partitioned into air-borne stress that results from the wind velocity gradient and grain-borne stress that results from the upward or downward movement of particles.The air-borne stress in-creases with an increase in height,while the grain-borne stress decreases with an increase in height.The air-borne shear stress at the top of sand cloud layer increases with both wind velocity and grain size,implying that it increases with sand transport rate for a given grain size.The shear stress with a blowing sand cloud is also closely related to the sand transport rate.Both the total shear stress and grain-borne stress on the grain top is directly proportional to the squ     

沙漠地区风积沙地基输电线路装配式基础真型试验研究

沙漠风积沙地基输电线路杆塔基础设计是当前我国电网建设中的关键研究课题之一。沙漠风积沙属于特殊土地基,这种地基上的输电线路装配式基础缺少相关设计依据。针对沙漠风积沙地基输电线路基础工程的特点,进行了输电线路装配式基础的真型试验,得到了上拔与水平荷载、下压与水平荷载联合作用下的承载变形特性、基础构件的应变特性、基础底板与风积沙地基之间的接触压力变化规律。根据测试结果,确定了沙漠地区风积沙地基装配式基础的地基承载力和上拔角取值,得到了基础稳定的最不利工况,有助于提高基础设计的可靠性和合理性。试验结果为沙漠地区台远-塔中220 kV输电线路基础工程的设计提供了依据。     

Sedimentary characteristics of paleo-aeolian dune sands of Salawusu Formation in the Salawusu River Valley

The Salawusu Formation of Milanggouwan section in Salawusu River Valley in-cludes 7 layers of paleo-mobile dune sands, and 4 layers of paleo-fixed and semi-fixed dune sands. Their structures have been observed and their grain size, surface textural features and several main chemical elements have been analyzed. The results showed that: 1) Some of the aeolian structural characteristics of these dune sands are similar to that of the recent dune sands. 2) They are also similar to the recent dune sands in grain size components, and parameters of Mz, σ, Sk and Kg, as well as in several main chemical components. 3) The scattergrams of Mz-σ and SiO2–Al2O3+TOFE and the probability curves of grain size showed that these paleo-dune sands are different from paleosols and fluvio-lacustrine facies, but are consistency with recent dune sands. 4) Quartz sands have well roundness and surface textural features such as dish-shaped pits, crescent-shaped pits, pockmarked pits, upturned cleavage plates, siliceous precipitates and siliceous crevasses, indicating that they had been carried for a long time by the wind. As the 11 layers of paleo-dune sands possess the aeolian characteristics in structure, grain size, surface textural features and chemical elements, the origin of their formation should be attributed to eolation.