Aeolian ResearchPub Date : 2022-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100819
K.R. Kolesar, M. Mavko, E. Burgess , N. Nguyen, M.D. Schaaf
{"title":"A modified resultant drift potential for more accurate prediction of sand transportation in the vicinity of the Keeler Dunes, California","authors":"K.R. Kolesar, M. Mavko, E. Burgess , N. Nguyen, M.D. Schaaf","doi":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100819","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100819","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The Keeler Dunes Complex is an active dune field located on the northwest corner of Owens (dry) Lake, California. Previous studies (Lancaster and McCarley-Holder, 2013) implicated the exposed surface of the Owens River Delta as the source of sediment for the Keeler Dunes based on the calculation of the Resultant Drift Potential (RDP). Measurements from sand flux monitoring stations located between the Owens River Delta and Keeler Dunes were used to determine the accuracy of using RDP for estimating actual sand transportation. It was found that the net average direction of sand transportation in this area (133°) was not accurately predicted by RDP (97°). Therefore, prior conclusions based on RDP erroneously attributed sediment from the Owens River Delta as a source for the Keeler Dunes. Since RDP calculations are widely used and a convenient method for determining the direction and magnitude of net sand transportation based on meteorological measurements, methods for modifying the RDP to achieve better agreement with sand flux measurements are desirable. Two modifications were found to improve the agreement between calculated RDP and measured sand transportation: 1) accounting for temporal variability in sediment availability (RDP = 130°), and 2) utilization of an area-specific threshold friction velocity (RDP = 129°). Combining these two modifications also resulted in good agreement (RDP = 137°) with the measured sand transportation but did not improve agreement further. These findings suggest that information about surface characteristics (sediment availability and surface roughness) are important to consider when estimating sand transportation based on wind energy.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49246,"journal":{"name":"Aeolian Research","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 100819"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2022-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875963722000490/pdfft?md5=2ecbe1c672df4e322ec810c0d55b7130&pid=1-s2.0-S1875963722000490-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48816081","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aeolian ResearchPub Date : 2022-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100828
Steven L. Forman , Victoria Tew-Todd , Connor Mayhack , Liliana Marín , Logan A. Wiest , Griffin Money
{"title":"Late Quaternary aeolian environments, luminescence chronology and climate change for the Monahans dune field, Winkler County, West Texas, USA","authors":"Steven L. Forman , Victoria Tew-Todd , Connor Mayhack , Liliana Marín , Logan A. Wiest , Griffin Money","doi":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100828","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100828","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Dune fields on the Southern High Plains such as the Monahans in West Texas are archives of Quaternary environmental variability. Stratigraphic analyses and sixty-one optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from seven Geoprobe cores and one section from the Monahans reveal a ∼ 550 ka old aeolian sedimentary record with seven carbonate/argillic paleosols and a playa-lake margin deposit. OSL ages on quartz-grains from aeolian sediments by two protocols, single aliquot regeneration (SAR) and thermal transfer (TT), yield congruent ages between 50 and 250 ka, and the oldest ages of ca. 550 ka, potentially minima. This chronostratigraphic analysis and finite-mixture modeling of the OSL-age distribution identify-four aeolian depositional periods (ADP) at 545 to 475, 300 to 260, 70 to 45, and post 16 ka and possibly-two additional ADPs 460 to 420 ka and 350 to 320 ka. Playa lake deposits identified west of the Monahans and correlative to carbonate-rich paleosols indicate that wetter conditions prevailed during interglacial MIS 7, 235 to 195 ka. Another wetter period, 25 to 16 ka, with the formation of Lake King in the adjacent Rio Grande Valley is correlative with a pedogenically-modified <2 m-thick aeolian sand. This study underscores that there may be multiple climatic states, during glacials and interglacials, associated with wetter conditions. In turn, the thickest, preserved aeolian deposits are associated with transitional climate periods, penecontemporaneous with stadials, when the Laurentide ice sheet was <80 % of the last glacial maximum volume, with precipitation-bearing zonal circulation shifted northward and weakened meridional moisture flux.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49246,"journal":{"name":"Aeolian Research","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 100828"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2022-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49425588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aeolian ResearchPub Date : 2022-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100829
Liqiang Kang , Wen Zhang , Xueyong Zou
{"title":"Experimental investigation on the erosion-deposition characteristics around isolated plants of different shapes in a wind tunnel","authors":"Liqiang Kang , Wen Zhang , Xueyong Zou","doi":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100829","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100829","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Accurate description of the characteristics of erosion and deposition around single model plants of different shapes is important to evaluate the protective role of plants in wind erosion control. The variation of bed topography with time was measured in a wind tunnel for two flexible models and two rigid tree-like models. The bed surface height close to the plant decreases forming a deep well, while in the lee, a deposition area generally appears whose shape is affected by plant type. The local wind erosion rate on both sides usually decreases with time, and the deposition area in the lee with the local erosion rate less than zero gradually moves downwind with time while disappears for the tree-like plant model with a long trunk and a large crown. Under similar frontal areas of plants, both the erosion and deposition areas around the tree-like plant with a short trunk and conical crown, and the flexible plant with a large upper part and a small lower part are generally larger than that around the slender flexible plant. The rigid tree-like plant with a short trunk and a dense conical crown is better for erosion control due to the smallest net erosion rate and the erosion area similar to the deposition area, while the other plant models have larger net erosion rate and much larger erosion area.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49246,"journal":{"name":"Aeolian Research","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 100829"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2022-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"137124850","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aeolian ResearchPub Date : 2022-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100815
Victor J.P. Hême de Lacotte , Nigel P. Mountney
{"title":"A classification scheme for sedimentary architectures arising from aeolian-fluvial system interactions: Permian examples from southeast Utah, USA","authors":"Victor J.P. Hême de Lacotte , Nigel P. Mountney","doi":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100815","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100815","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The preservation of the sedimentary deposits of arid environments is determined by both geomorphic and geologic processes. Sedimentary evidence of aeolian-fluvial system interactions in arid-climate settings are preserved in both recent and ancient sedimentary successions. However, despite considerable prior sedimentological research, there is no unifying scheme to provide generalized definitions of commonly occurring types of preserved aeolian-fluvial interactions. This study addresses this shortcoming by introducing a novel classification scheme for sedimentary architectures arising from such system interactions. The scheme is demonstrated through reference to examples from the Permian Cutler Group, Paradox Basin, Southeast Utah, USA – a sedimentary record of competing aeolian dune-field and fluvial-fan systems along a palaeo-coastline. Well-preserved, laterally continuous outcrops arranged in different orientations enable three-dimensional architectural characterization. The sedimentary record of eight distinct types of aeolian-fluvial interaction are identified: (i) water-table-controlled interdune sedimentation; (ii) deposits of low-energy fluvial floods; (iii) isolated fluvial channel-fills originating from episodic and confined flooding of interdunes in orientations parallel to the trend of dune crestlines; (iv) channel fills oriented perpendicular to the trend of dune crestlines; (v) amalgamated fluvial channel elements resulting from persistent, long-lived but confined dune-field flooding; (vi) deposits of unconfined sheet-like flood deposits; (vii) fluvial breaching of dunes and their reworking by catastrophic flooding; (viii) aeolian reworking of fluvial deposits. Each interaction type is characterized in terms of preserved sedimentary facies, architectural element geometries and associated proprieties, to demonstrate sedimentary variability in three dimensions. Results provide a guide with which to make sedimentological comparisons and interpretations between active systems and their preserved depositional record.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49246,"journal":{"name":"Aeolian Research","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 100815"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2022-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43301099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aeolian ResearchPub Date : 2022-08-01DOI: 10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100814
P.R. Sujitha , Priyabrata Santra , A.K. Bera , M.K. Verma , S.S. Rao
{"title":"Detecting dust loads in the atmosphere over Thar desert by using MODIS and INSAT-3D data","authors":"P.R. Sujitha , Priyabrata Santra , A.K. Bera , M.K. Verma , S.S. Rao","doi":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100814","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100814","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Suspended dust particles in atmosphere have adverse impacts on environment, ecosystem as well as on human health. To avoid negative impacts of dust storm events, early warning system to predict it well in advance may be a suitable option. However, for this purpose, assessment on magnitude of dust load and its dynamics in atmosphere is a primary requirement. The present study aims to develop remote sensing based assessment of dust load in atmosphere specifically over the Indian Thar Desert region. The severe dust storm event occurred on 5<sup>th</sup> June 2017 over the Indian Thar Desert has been used in this study to develop integrated dust detection algorithm using split window technique, mid-infrared technique and different dust indices derived from MODIS and INSAT-3D data. Evaluation of the developed algorithm revealed that the area classified under dust load depends on threshold value of dust indices used in the algorithm, type of dust detection techniques followed and the specifications of remote sensing sensors used to retrieve the dust image. The integrated dust detection algorithm developed in this study has the capability to eliminate the problem in variations of predicted dust loadings in atmosphere. Validation of the developed algorithm to detect dust pixels showed good agreement with independent observations on aerosol optical depth (AOD), wind speed profile data and ground visibility data. The method adopted can be helpful to implement an operational system for detection and monitoring of dust storms over the Thar Desert region.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49246,"journal":{"name":"Aeolian Research","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 100814"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42456521","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aeolian ResearchPub Date : 2022-08-01DOI: 10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100816
Jing Wang , Yanna Yang , Zhen Chen , Zhuolun Peng , Quanzhou Gao
{"title":"New research on the origin of the late Quaternary Old Red Sand in the coastal area of South China","authors":"Jing Wang , Yanna Yang , Zhen Chen , Zhuolun Peng , Quanzhou Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100816","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100816","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>A late Quaternary red sandy sediment called the Old Red Sand is widely distributed in coastal South China. Most studies have considered it a single sand body composed of wind-transported beach sand. However, the Old Red Sand also contains silt and clay. To determine the implications of this fine fraction for the origin of the Old Red Sand, four sections were studied using various depositional analyses. Under a scanning electron microscope, quartz particles in the fine fraction are well rounded, with abundant aeolian marks on their surfaces. The grain size is homogeneous and comparable to that of typical loess. The diffuse reflectance spectroscopy results suggest a higher content of haematite than goethite within the fine fraction, indicating subaerial deposition without strong hydration. The geochemical composition of the fine fraction is close to that of the upper continental crust and comparable to that of typical aeolian deposits, indicating the extensiveness of material sources, with terrestrial dust being fully mixed by wind over a large area. The depositional characteristics, sedimentary environment and provenance of the fine fraction are markedly different from those of the coarse fraction, which is composed of near-source beach sand. Therefore, the Old Red Sand is not a deposit with a single source. Both near-source coarse beach sand and exotic fine dust contributed to the formation of the deposit in the late Pleistocene, especially the last glacial period. The fine fraction is a key factor contributing to the cementation and redness of the sand body.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49246,"journal":{"name":"Aeolian Research","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 100816"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41596100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aeolian ResearchPub Date : 2022-08-01DOI: 10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100812
Niels van Kuik , Job de Vries , Christian Schwarz , Gerben Ruessink
{"title":"Surface-area development of foredune trough blowouts and associated parabolic dunes quantified from time series of satellite imagery","authors":"Niels van Kuik , Job de Vries , Christian Schwarz , Gerben Ruessink","doi":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100812","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100812","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Foredune trough blowouts are elongated wind-eroded depressions in the most seaward dune and their adjoining depositional lobes. Despite their importance to the sand budget and floral diversity of coastal dunes, the spatiotemporal evolution of trough blowouts is not well understood. We designed an automated workflow in the Google Earth Engine platform to produce time series of blowout surface area from medium-resolution satellite imagery available since the mid-1980s and applied it to a blowout system in the Netherlands, Denmark and the USA. Blowout surface areas were found to vary on multi-annual, seasonal and episodic time scales. Multi-annual change reflects successive development through stages of growth, stabilization and decay. The transition from growth to stabilization appears to be related to a change in blowout shape (width-to-length ratio). The decay phase starts with vegetation obstructing the blowout connection to the beach; the lobe can still migrate inland and develop into a parabolic dune before also becoming fully vegetated. The seasonal variations in blowout area increase with latitude; the observed larger areas in winter at the Dutch and Danish site presumably reflect seasonal plant development and the effect of stronger winds in winter. Episodic increases in blowout area, observed during winter at the Danish site only, are associated with pronounced foredune erosion. None of the episodic events changed blowouts into a different stage or persistently affected seasonal dynamics. Future work should focus on the combined analysis of changes in blowout area and sand volume to improve our understanding of sand-vegetation interactions driving blowout dynamics.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49246,"journal":{"name":"Aeolian Research","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 100812"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875963722000428/pdfft?md5=3edd9284ea2d795d5f7e478e74018d25&pid=1-s2.0-S1875963722000428-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45497498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aeolian ResearchPub Date : 2022-08-01DOI: 10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100813
Clayton K. Chandler , Jani Radebaugh , John H. McBride , Thomas H. Morris , Clement Narteau , Karl Arnold , Ralph D. Lorenz , Jason W. Barnes , Alex Hayes , Sébastien Rodriguez , Tammy Rittenour
{"title":"Near-surface structure of a large linear dune and an associated crossing dune of the northern Namib Sand Sea from Ground Penetrating Radar: Implications for the history of large linear dunes on Earth and Titan","authors":"Clayton K. Chandler , Jani Radebaugh , John H. McBride , Thomas H. Morris , Clement Narteau , Karl Arnold , Ralph D. Lorenz , Jason W. Barnes , Alex Hayes , Sébastien Rodriguez , Tammy Rittenour","doi":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100813","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100813","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We imaged the near-surface sedimentary structures<span><span><span> of a large linear dune, flanking dune forms and an associated crossing linear dune never before studied in the northern Namib Sand Sea using 200-MHz Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR). The dry, uniform sandy conditions and wavelength used allowed for highly detailed observations of sedimentary structures to depths of ∼ 12 m across a >1km lateral scan. Sedimentary features observed in the main linear dune include scouring and abrupt changes in strata such as trough cross stratification (TCS), onlap, downlap, truncation and avalanche-related bedding, all a result of complex sand transport conditions. Different phases of deposition have produced an opposed succession of strata on each side of the dune. These successions alternate 2-dimensional (2D), or </span>bedform<span><span> instability mode features with 3-dimensional (3D), or fingering mode features, separated by a clear process boundary. These alternating successions reflect a change in the dominant wind environment in the recent past. The changing winds may feed into the building and overall stability of this dune field and may be a model for conditions in other large linear/longitudinal dune fields. The subsurface structure of an oblique crossing linear dune demonstrates sand transport generally down the dune long axis in the direction predicted from modern, ERA-Interim model as well as </span>paleoclimate model winds. This suggests relatively long-term stability of this intermediate-sized </span></span>landform and the potential long-term coexistence of large dunes and secondary forms. These studies have implications for the extensive sand seas of Titan, where lack of large secondary forms may indicate a simple wind regime over long time periods.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":49246,"journal":{"name":"Aeolian Research","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 100813"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47208966","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aeolian ResearchPub Date : 2022-08-01DOI: 10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100817
G.H.P. Campmans, K.M. Wijnberg
{"title":"Modelling the vertical grain size sorting process in aeolian sediment transport using the discrete element method","authors":"G.H.P. Campmans, K.M. Wijnberg","doi":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100817","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100817","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We present a model study of the aeolian saltation process where sediment samples are studied for the size selective transport processes. The discrete element method is used to simulate the sediment particles of different sizes, coupled with a fluid boundary layer model to capture the driving wind forces. Sediment samples with identical median grain size, but with systematically varying size distributions were simulated to investigate under various wind shear rates which sediment fractions are transported. The presented model results show - well in line with other research - that the median grain size is an appropriate sediment sample parameter to quantify the total rate of sediment transport. However, our results show that this does not determine what fractions of sediment are in transport. The larger the standard deviation in the sediment size distribution the smaller the median grain size becomes of the sediment that is in transport compared to the median grain size present at the bed.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49246,"journal":{"name":"Aeolian Research","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 100817"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875963722000477/pdfft?md5=10582953b974e44db35cbce20c0acb4e&pid=1-s2.0-S1875963722000477-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43543957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aeolian ResearchPub Date : 2022-08-01DOI: 10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100802
Dilibaier Tursun , Feng Zhang , Feng Wu , Xiufan Liu , Shixin Wu , Tao Sun , Jianghua Zheng , Jian Yue
{"title":"Geochemical characterization of major elements in Gurbantunggut Desert sediments, northwestern China and their regional variations","authors":"Dilibaier Tursun , Feng Zhang , Feng Wu , Xiufan Liu , Shixin Wu , Tao Sun , Jianghua Zheng , Jian Yue","doi":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100802","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aeolia.2022.100802","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Identifying the geochemical composition of desert sands in the Gurbantunggut Desert is essential for understanding the formation of desert dunes in the mid-latitudes. In this study, we collected samples of desert sands (125–250 μm), fluvial sands, and lacustrine sands across the Gurbantunggut Desert and calculated the sand drift potential at four meteorological stations. The sand samples from the Gurbantunggut Desert were mostly enriched in SiO<sub>2</sub><span>, while the other major elements were depleted compared to those of the Upper Continental Crust (UCC). The chemical weathering indices (α</span><sup>Al</sup>E, CIA, and WIP) indicate that the sand-sized sediments in the Gurbantunggut Desert are in the initial stage of continental chemical weathering. SiO<sub>2</sub> and K<sub>2</sub>O contents as well as mineralogical maturity of the desert sands increased from the piedmont to the desert center. UCC-normalized distribution patterns were also consistent along this transect due to the homogenization of desert sand composition, whereas the concentrations of other major elements (except for TiO<sub>2</sub> and MnO) decreased. We conclude that (1) regional variations in the composition of the Gurbantunggut Desert sands primarily reflect differences in provenance, transport, sorting, recycling of the sediments, and vegetation cover as well as the chemical weathering; and (2) differences in indices describing the major element composition of the sands reflect regional variations in provenance from the mountains to the depositional basin. Sands within piedmont rivers possess major element characteristics similar to those of dune sands in the region, suggesting that rivers represent a significant source of sands in the desert.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49246,"journal":{"name":"Aeolian Research","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 100802"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48073534","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}