Provenance and recycling of Sahara Desert sand

Source‐To‐Sink Aeolian Fluxes From Arid Landscape Dynamics in the Lut Desert

“…This approach is now expanding for a variety of morpho‐sedimentary systems in glacial (Jaeger & Koppes, 2016), lacustrine (Bouton et al., 2020), submarine (Liu et al., 2016; Salles et al., 2018), and aeolian environments (Fitzsimmons et al., 2020; Nicoll et al., 2020; Shao et al., 2011), not only on Earth but also on other planetary bodies (Boazman et al., 2021; Day & Kocurek, 2016). However, works dedicated to aeolian‐dominated landscapes often remain qualitative or limited to a single component of the sediment budget such as erosion or accumulation, dust or sand (East et al., 2015; McMillan & Schoenbohm, 2020; Pastore et al., 2021; Sun, 2002; Zender et al., 2004). Hence, the potential of source‐to‐sink methods is still to be exploited to bring new quantitative information on aeolian sediment‐routing systems and associated landforms.…”

The Role of Seasonal Sediment Transport and Sintering in Shaping Titan's Landscapes: A Hypothesis

“…Several mechanisms have been proposed to generate sand on Titan, such as the erosion of lithified materials, sintering of photochemically produced airfall particles, flocculation, and erosion of evaporitic precipitates (Barnes et al., 2015 ). On Earth, large dune fields are typically supplied with pre‐sorted sediments from fluvial or coastal sands or sandstones (Busch, 2020 ; Lancaster, 1982 ; Pastore et al., 2021 ) as rivers, waves, and winds efficiently sort sediments by grain size and density (e.g., Goosmann et al., 2018 ; Jerolmack et al., 2011 ; Komar, 2007 ; Parker, 1991 ). On Earth, abrasion of mechanically weak evaporitic minerals is known to occur during eolian transport (Jerolmack et al., 2011 ).…”

Entrepreneurship in the Raw Materials Sector

“…The petrography and heavy mineral content of various dune sands have been described in detail in an article by authors Pastore et al (2021) with the following composition: Quartz, feldspar, plagioclase, lithic grains (volcanic, carbonate, other sedimentary and metasedimen tary) and transparent heavy minerals, including: Zircon + Tourmaline + Rutile, Apatite, Titanite, Epidote, Prehnite + Pumpellyite, Garnet, Staurolite, Kyanite, Amphibole, Pyroxene, Olivine and others (Anatase, Sillimanite, Andalusite, Monazite, Topaz, Brookite). The chem ical composition of the raw quartz sands (especially the content of SiO 2 , Fe 2 O 3 and Al 2 O 3 ) is most important for their use and physical properties.…”