A theoretical study of mineralogical maturation of eolian sand

Dutta, Prodip K.; Zhou, Ziye; Santos, Paulo Roberto dos

doi:10.1130/spe284-p203

Cited by 34 publications

(31 citation statements)

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“…Dutta et al (1993) have shown, on the basis of both theoretical calculations and laboratory experiments, that ballistic impacts under strong (>10 m s À 1 ) winds can result in the mechanical breakdown of sand-sized K-feldspar to silt sizes. Silt-sized K-feldspars are then removed from a dunefield by suspension in wind, leaving a sand-sized, quartz-rich residue.…”

Section: Loss Of Feldspars From Chemical Weathering Within a Dunefielmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mineralogical maturity in dunefields of North America, Africa and Australia

2004

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Studies of dunefields in central and western North America show that mineralogical maturity can provide new insights into the origin and evolution of aeolian sand bodies. Many of the world's great sand seas in Africa, Asia and Australia are quartzdominated and thus can be considered to be mineralogically mature. The Algodones (California) and Parker (Arizona) dunes in the southwestern United States are also mature, but have inherited a high degree of mineralogical maturity from quartz-rich sedimentary rocks drained by the Colorado River. In Libya, sediments of the Zallaf sand sea, which are almost pure quartz, may have originated in a similar fashion. The Fort Morgan (Colorado) and Casper (Wyoming) dunefields in the central Great Plains of North America, and the Namib sand sea of southern Africa have an intermediate degree of mineralogical maturity because their sources are large rivers that drained both unweathered plutonic and metamorphic rocks and mature sedimentary rocks. Mojave Desert dunefields in the southwestern United States are quite immature because they are in basins adjacent to plutonic rocks that were their sources. Other dunefields in the Great Plains of North America (those in Nebraska and Texas) are more mature than any possible source sediments and therefore reflect mineralogical evolution over time. Such changes in composition can occur because of either of two opposing long-term states of the dunefield. In one state, dunes are stable for long periods of time and chemical weathering depletes feldspars and other weatherable minerals in the sediment body. In the other state, which is most likely for the Great Plains, abrasion and ballistic impacts deplete the carbonate minerals and feldspars because the dunes are active for longer periods than they are stable. D

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Section: Loss Of Feldspars From Chemical Weathering Within a Dunefielmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dutta et al (1993) showed, on the basis of both theoretical calculations and wind tunnel experiments, that sand-sized K-feldspar grains are reduced in size on impact when wind velocities exceed 10 m s À 1 . In Nebraska, eastern Colorado and Texas, winds are persistent and strong.…”

Section: Mature Dunefields With Quartz Enrichment By Ballistic Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mineralogical maturity in dunefields of North America, Africa and Australia

2004

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“…4). Although Great Bend eolian sands are dominated by quartz, they have relatively high abundances of both K-feldspar and plagioclase compared to many dune "elds (McKee, 1983;Dutta et al, 1993). In addition to their silicate mineral similarities, both Arkansas River sands and Great Bend eolian sands contain small (perhaps 1}5%) but detectable amounts of calcite and dolomite.…”

Section: Mineralogy and Geochemistry Of Eolian Sand And Arkansas Rivementioning

confidence: 99%

“…stability. Because K-feldspar is fairly resistant to chemical weathering, however, it is more likely that K-feldspar depletion takes place by ballistic impacts during extended periods of dune activity (Dutta et al, 1993). K-feldspar depletion, if not inherited from the source sediment, is indicative of a dune "eld with a long history of activity.…”

Section: Mineralogical Maturity Of the Great Bend Sand Prairiementioning

confidence: 99%

“…K, Rb, and Ba occur in K-feldspar, which is subject to physical breakdown in eolian settings due to ballistic impacts (Dutta et al, 1993). Muhs et al (1997a) suggested that the K-feldspar-depleted Nebraska Sand Hills may owe its mineralogical maturity in part to this process, probably through repeated activation over a long interval of time.…”

Section: Mineralogy and Geochemistry Of Eolian Sand And Arkansas Rivementioning

confidence: 99%

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Geochemical and mineralogical evidence from eolian sediments for northwesterly mid-Holocene paleowinds, central Kansas, USA

Arbogast

Muhs

2000

Quaternary International

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Late Holocene Eolian Activity in the Mineralogically Mature Nebraska Sand Hills

et al. 1997

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The age of sand dunes in the Nebraska Sand Hills has been controversial, with some investigators suggesting a full-glacial age and others suggesting that they were last active in the late Holocene. New accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon ages of unaltered bison bones and organic-rich sediments suggest that eolian sand deposition occurred at least twice in the past 3000 14C yr B.P. in three widely separated localities and as many as three times in the past 800 14C yr at three other localities. These late Holocene episodes of eolian activity are probably the result of droughts more intense than the 1930s “Dust Bowl” period, based on independent Great Plains climate records from lake sediments and tree rings. However, new geochemical data indicate that the Nebraska Sand Hills are mineralogically mature. Eolian sands in Nebraska have lower K-feldspar (and K2O, Rb, and Ba) contents than most possible source sediments and lower K-feldspar contents than dunes of similar age in Colorado. The most likely explanation for mineralogical maturity is reduction of sand-sized K-feldspar to silt-sized particles via ballistic impacts due to strong winds over many cycles of eolian activity. Therefore, dunes of the Nebraska Sand Hills must have had a long history, probably extending over more than one glacial–interglacial cycle, and the potential for reactivation is high, with or without a future greenhouse warming.

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A theoretical study of mineralogical maturation of eolian sand

Cited by 34 publications

References 0 publications

Mineralogical maturity in dunefields of North America, Africa and Australia

Mineralogical maturity in dunefields of North America, Africa and Australia

Geochemical and mineralogical evidence from eolian sediments for northwesterly mid-Holocene paleowinds, central Kansas, USA

Late Holocene Eolian Activity in the Mineralogically Mature Nebraska Sand Hills

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