The control of wind strength on the barchan to parabolic dune transition

The evolution of barchan-to-parabolic dunes can be driven by vegetation establishment, which may be linked to climate change and/or human activity. However, little is known of the impact of changes in wind strength on vegetation development and the resulting impacts on the evolution of dune morphology and sedimentological characteristics. To address this issue, we studied the morphology and grain-size characteristics of barchan, barchan-to-parabolic and parabolic dunes in the Mu Us Desert in north China, which was combined with an analysis of changes in normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and climatic variables during 1982–2018. The results reveal a trend of increasing growing-season NDVI which was related to a significant decrease in drift potential (DP). Therefore, we suggest that the initiation of dune transformation was caused by the reduced wind strength which favored the establishment and development of vegetation. To reveal the response of sedimentological reorganization during the processes of dune transformation, grain-size characteristics along the longitudinal profile of the three different types of dunes were examined. The decreasing wind strength led to the transport of fine sands on the upper part of the windward face of the dunes, resulting in a progressive coarsening of the grain-size distribution (GSD) and a reduction in dune height at the crest area. No distinct trend in sorting and mean grain-size was observed on the windward slope of the barchan-to-parabolic dune, indicating that the sand in transit had little influence on the GSD. Conversely, progressive sorting and coarsening of the sand occurred towards the crest of the parabolic dune. This indicates that vegetation development limited the transport of sand from upwind of the dune, and affected a shift in the dune source material to the underlying source deposits, or to reworked pre-existing aeolian deposits, and resulted in the trapping of sand in the crest area. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simulation of the effect of wind speedup in the formation of transverse dune fields

A computer simulation model for transverse‐dune‐field dynamics, corresponding to a uni‐directional wind regime, is developed. In a previous formulation, two distinct problems were found regarding the cross‐sectional dune shape, namely the erosion in the lee of dunes and the steepness of the windward slopes. The first problem is solved by introducing no erosion in shadow zones. The second issue is overcome by introducing a wind speedup (shear velocity increase) factor, which can be accounted for by adding a term to the original transport length, which is proportional to the surface height. By incorporating these features we are able to model dunes whose individual shape and collective patterns are similar to those observed in nature. Moreover we show how the introduction of a non‐linear shear‐velocity‐increase term leads to the reduction of dune height, and this may result in an equilibrium dune field configuration. This is thought to be because the non‐linear increase of the transport length makes the sand trapping efficiency lower than unity, even for higher dunes, so that the incoming and the outgoing sand flux are in balance. To fully describe the inter‐dune morphology more precise dynamics in the lee of the dune must be incorporated. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling transverse dunes

Transverse dunes appear in regions of mainly unidirectional wind and high sand availability. A dune model is extended to two‐dimensional calculation of the shear stress. It is applied to simulate dynamics and morphology of three‐dimensional transverse dunes. In the simulations they seem to reach translational invariance and do not stop growing. Hence, simulations of two‐dimensional dune ?elds have been performed. Characteristic laws were found for the time evolution of transverse dunes. Bagnold's law of the dune velocity is modi?ed and reproduced. The interaction between transverse dunes led to the interesting conclusion that small dunes can travel over bigger ones. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dune field development,interactions and boundary conditions for crescentic and stellate megadunes of the Al Liwa Basin,the Empty Quarter

Within the greater Ar Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter) sand sea lies an internal depocentre, the Al Liwa Basin, which comprises a variety of mega‐scale dune types. Crescentic dunes dominant the north of the basin while megadunes of stellate or star form are a major landform of the south‐eastern reaches. Their development into dune fields is determined by the style and rate of dune–dune interactions, the boundary conditions imposed by a multi‐modal wind regime, fluctuating groundwater levels, and sediment availability under an assortment of climatic conditions throughout the Quaternary. As a result, dune field patterns are a collective response to these perturbations in space, time and environment. The R‐statistic is a collective measure of these responses, and is a metric capable of identifying the degree of pattern maturity or self‐organization of the aeolian system, and the pathways from which patterns evolve. The spatial signature of the southerly located star dunes is characterized by two definitive patterns of organization: the first, one of complete spatial randomness, the second, a low degree of spatial uniformity. In isolation, these results appear to be unrelated to those for crescentic dunes of the region in which a significantly higher degree of pattern dispersion is the norm. However, when spatial statistical measures are integrated with the theoretical understanding of dune–dune interactions and the involvement of environmental agents, the complex morphodynamic pathways and linkages between regional dune fields is better understood. In this case, both constructive (e.g. merging, lateral linking) and regenerative activity (e.g. calving) have played important roles in the development of dune size, and associated adjustments in spacing, and dune numbers, and subsequently dune field patterns. Synergetic patterns are emblematic of this vast dunescape, whereby transitional geographic, morphologic, dimensional and environmental modifications exist between the mega‐crescentic and mega‐stellate dunes of the Empty Quarter. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Annual to decadal morphodynamics of the foredune system at Greenwich Dunes,Prince Edward Island,Canada

The purpose of this study was to quantify relationships between season, sediment availability, sediment transport pathways, and beach/foredune morphology at Greenwich Dunes, PEI. This was done for periods ranging from a few days to multiple decades using erosion pins, bedframe measurements, annual surveys, and digital photogrammetry using historical aerial photographs. The relative significance of seasonal/annual processes versus response of the foredune system to broader geomorphic controls (e.g. relative sea level rise, storms, etc.) was also assessed. The data show that there are clear seasonal differences in the patterns of sand supply from the beach to the foredune at Greenwich and that there are differences in sediment supply to the foredune between the east and west reaches of the study area, resulting in ongoing differences in foredune morphology. They also demonstrate that models that incorporate wind climate alone, or even models that include other factors like beach moisture, would not be able to predict the amount of sediment movement from the beach to the foredune in this environment unless there were some way to parameterize system morphology, especially the presence or absence of a dune ramp. Finally, the data suggest that the foredune can migrate landward while maintaining its form via transfers of sediment from the stoss slope, over the crest, and onto the lee slope. Although the rate of foredune development or recovery after disturbance changes over time due to morphological feedback, the overall decadal evolution of the foredune system at Greenwich is consistent with, and supports, the Davidson‐Arnott (2005) conceptual model of dune transgression under rising sea level. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Plant distribution at the mobile dune scale and its relevance to soil properties and topographic features

A survey was conducted in an 11-year recovery mobile dune (RMD11) and a 20-year recovery mobile dune (RMD20), in Horqin Sandy Land, Northern China, to determine plant distribution at the mobile dune scale and its relevance to soil properties and topographic features. The results showed that (1) vegetation cover and species number increased from dune top to bottom in the restoration process of mobile dune; (2) the average value of soil organic C, total N, pH, relative height of sampling site, very fine sand content and soil water contents (40−60 and 60−80 cm) of RMD11 were less than that of RMD20, respectively, and there were significant differences (P < 0.05) between the two dunes; (3) soil resources were redistributed by shrub restoration and relative height of sampling site on dune. The distribution of sand pioneer plant, Agriophyllum squarrosum, was positively related to the relative height of sampling site and soil water content, while that of other herbaceous plants was positively related to soil nutrients in the restoration process of mobile dune. These results suggest that at mobile dune scale, plant distributions are determined by a combination of soil properties and topographic feature. Much effort should be made to preserve the interdune lowland and to improve the level of soil nutrients on mobile dune.     

风沙地区遥感图像分析及其对选线的意义

简要叙述了利用遥感图像进行沙丘研究的优越性,重点介绍了沙漠地区各种类型沙丘的影像特征,并以其形态特征分析为依据,对某些类型沙丘的成因提出了看法,同时指出遥感图像沙丘判释对线路选线的意义及风沙与铁路、公路选线的关系等。     

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.     

The aeolian sedimentation record of the Thar desert

A review of the aeolian sedimentary record of the Thar desert is presented. This includes a regional survey of the major dune forms, their genesis and their relationship to climate and other regional landforms. A key aspect of this work is the chronometry of the dunes using luminescence methods. Luminescence dating of sand has enabled quantification of the duration of the phases of sand aggradation and quiescence, time scales of dune migration and the dating of pedogenic carbonates. We demonstrate that the conventional wisdom of synchronicity of dune aggradation with glacial epoch is not true in the context of Thar sands and here only a short durationwindow of opportunity existed for dune aggradation. Luminescence ages further suggest that this window occurred during a transitional climatic regime from glacial to interglacial about 4–10 ka after the glacial epoch. Other inferences included are that:

Temporal and spatial changes of dunes in the Changjiang (Yangtze) estuary,China

The response of subaqueous dunes to the variation of riverine sediment supply in an estuary is rarely reported. Five sets of field measurements of bed sediments and topography were made in the Changjiang estuary, China during dry and flood seasons for the past 9 years. Results show that dunes were mainly three-dimensional (3D) during flood seasons and two-dimensional (2D) dunes during dry seasons. Dunes were also much larger in flood seasons. Dunes mainly occurred within the main channels of the estuary although they extended 11.7 km seaward of their normal extent in the South Channel during dry seasons from 2002 to 2006. This extension of the dune field is likely due to a sharp decline of sediment discharge caused by large reservoirs such as Three Gorges.