Qaidam Basin as an analog for linear dune formation in Chasma Boreale, Mars: A comparative analysis

Li, Chao; Dong, Zhibao; Chen, Guoxiang; Yang, Junhuai; Cui, Xujia; Li, Jiyan

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2018.08.033

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…In arid regions, subaqueous locations, and extraterrestrial environments, dunes develop with different temporal and spatial scales. The similar morphology on earth and Mars (C. Li et al, 2018;Parteli and Herrmann, 2007), the similar scaling laws followed by dunes (Claudin and Andreotti, 2006) and the fact that sand ripples and dunes can be explained by a unified model (Duran Vinent et al, 2019) suggest that the same mechanisms govern dune formation. Barchans and linear dunes are the most widely distributed and intensively studied dune types on earth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The wind, sand supply, and surface conditions are the main factors that control dune formation and evolution (Wasson and Hyde, 1983;Baas, 2007;Courrech du Pont et al, 2014;Lü et al, 2018). Many scholars have investigated this phenomenon from the perspective of surface conditions, such as sediment cohesion due to high total silt, clay, and salt contents (C. Li et al, 2019;Rubin and Hesp, 2009;Rubin and Rubin, 2013;Yu and Lai, 2014), the soil water conditions (C. Li et al, 2018), wind erosion of ridges (Zhou et al, 2012), the wind regime, and topography, particularly including surface barriers (Z. Zhang et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the effect of sand supply on dune formation has often been ignored, so how this supply affects the coexistence of the two dune types is unclear. Some researchers have recognized that sand supply may affect the coexistence of barchans and linear dunes (C. Li et al, 2018;Z. Zhang et al, 2017), but this hypothesis has not been supported by quantitative research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Effects of Wind Regime and Sand Supply on the Coexistence of Barchans and Linear Dunes in China’s Qaidam Basin

Lü

Cao

2022

Front. Earth Sci.

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Dunes composed of granular materials are present in deserts and other environments, such as subaqueous environments and environments on other planets, with very different time and length scales for their evolution. In arid regions, barchans (transverse dunes) develop under a unimodal wind regime, and are oriented perpendicular to the sand transport direction, whereas linear (longitudinal) dunes develop under a bimodal wind regime and are oriented parallel to the sand transport direction. However, field survey results cannot be explained solely by the wind because barchans and linear dunes can coexist under the same wind regime. Here, we investigated China’s Qaidam Basin, where barchans and linear dunes coexist. We measured dune morphology, analyzed wind data, and quantified the sand supply (equivalent sand thickness) to describe their development environment, and focused on the effect of sand supply to explore the combined effects of wind regime and sand supply on the coexistence of barchans and linear dunes. In our study area, barchans and linear dunes had low heights. The wind regime was narrowly bimodal, with low directional variability. The sand supply was limited (low equivalent sand thickness), but was greater for barchan chains than for barchans, and linear dunes had the smallest supply; the equivalent sand thickness in the linear dune areas was half that in barchan areas and one-quarter that in barchan chain areas. Except in the presence of topographical barriers and cohesive sediments, a unimodal or bimodal wind regime with an acute angle allows barchans and linear dunes to coexist under a low sand supply. The linear dunes and the barchans migrated along the resultant drift direction. Though we studied aeolian dunes, these findings will increase our understanding of these similar bedforms that develop in other planetary environments (e.g., Mars).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Effects of Wind Regime and Sand Supply on the Coexistence of Barchans and Linear Dunes in China’s Qaidam Basin

Lü

Cao

2022

Front. Earth Sci.

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“…The Qaidam Basin contains the highest and sixth largest desert in China (including the area of aeolian erosion landforms; Wu, ). Aeolian landforms in the Qaidam Basin have been of interest to researchers because they are believed to be strongly analogous to counterparts on Mars and Titan (Li et al, ; Rubin & Hesp, ; Xiao et al, ). Researchers have carried out studies on Qarhan Salt Lake Desert's wind regime (Bao, Dong, & Zhang, ), the grain‐size characteristics of dune sediments (Bao & Dong, ; Li et al, ), dune pattern (Li et al, ), and dune formation mechanisms (Zhang, Dong, Qian, Li, & Luo, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Source of aeolian dune sands on the northern margin of Qarhan Salt Lake, Qaidam Basin, NW China

Zhou

Yan

et al. 2019

Geological Journal

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The aeolian landforms in the Qaidam Basin have drawn increasing attention from geomorphologists for their morphological and formation mechanisms' similarities with their counterparts on Mars and Titan. Using grain-size and mineral composition data, this study investigated the source of aeolian dune sands found on the northern margin of Qarhan Salt Lake in the south central part of the Qaidam Basin. Results indicate that linear dune sands and gobi surface sediments are mainly composed of fine and very fine sands, while the yardang corridor sands are much coarser, with medium and fine sands in predominance. The curves of the linear dune sands show a standard normal distribution pattern. This is also the case for the gobi surface sediments and yardang corridor sands located away from linear dunes. However, the curves for these two sediment types show much wider kurtoses. The distribution curves for the yardang corridor sands located near the linear dunes are different from the above-mentioned sediments, which explicitly display bimodal distributions. More mineral types were detected in the yardang corridor sands and gobi surface sediments than in dune sands.But the major mineral compositions of the three kinds of sediments are similar. Contents of typical very stable and stable heavy minerals differ little among the three sediments, while the contents of some heavy minerals with poor stability differ greatly.The relative proportions of quartz, plagioclase, and orthoclase in all three kinds of sediments demonstrate that they all likely originated from the granite and granodiorite rocks of the Qilian Mountain ranges. Therefore, gobi surface sediments and yardang corridor sands near the study linear dune field could be the source of dune sands. Further investigations are needed to determine whether the yardang corridor sands far away from the study linear dune field feed dunes in the Sebei area.

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Physics and Modeling of Wind-Blown Sand Landscapes

Parteli¹

2022

Treatise on Geomorphology

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Qaidam Basin as an analog for linear dune formation in Chasma Boreale, Mars: A comparative analysis

Cited by 8 publications

References 55 publications

The Effects of Wind Regime and Sand Supply on the Coexistence of Barchans and Linear Dunes in China’s Qaidam Basin

The Effects of Wind Regime and Sand Supply on the Coexistence of Barchans and Linear Dunes in China’s Qaidam Basin

Source of aeolian dune sands on the northern margin of Qarhan Salt Lake, Qaidam Basin, NW China

Physics and Modeling of Wind-Blown Sand Landscapes

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