journal article Open Access Sep 23, 2024

Spatial variability in aeolian abrasion: Ibex Dune Field, Death Valley National Park

Sedimentology Vol. 72 No. 1 pp. 258-274 · Wiley
View at Publisher Save 10.1111/sed.13233
Abstract
ABSTRACTWind‐driven sediment transport drives significant landscape evolution in arid regions. Wind‐blown sand can form large dunes, or can erode exposed surfaces via abrasion. Previous works on aeolian abrasion have focused on the geomorphological features resulting from abrasion (for example, ventifacts and yardangs) through both field and wind‐tunnel experiments. However, relatively little attention has been given to how abrasion varies spatially as sand flux converges on a sand sink, such as a dune field. This work studied an arid landscape using field measurements and collected weather data to quantitatively measure how abrasion varies in space around the Ibex Dune Field. From March 2021 to October 2022, the wind conditions at two separate locations in the region were monitored, saltating sand flux was captured using fully rotating sediment traps, ventifacts were mapped along several transects, and abrasion‐related mass loss on mounted gypsum plaster samples was measured. These results suggest that the magnitude of abrasion is approximately inversely proportional to the distance away from the dune field, increasing in magnitude as sands converge and fluxes increase at the dune field sink. Comparison between modern winds and ventifact orientations suggests that additional complexity, not aeolian processes alone, may be shaping the morphology of surface cobbles.
Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References
54
[1]
Blake W.P. "On the grooving and polishing of hard rocks and minerals by dry Sand" Am. J. Sci. Arts (1855)
[7]
Fryberger S.G. (1979)
[10]
Greeley R. "Abrasion by aeolian particles" Earth and Mars (1984)
[13]
Kármán T. "Mechanische änlichkeit und turbulenz: Nachrichten von der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen" Mathematisch‐Physikalische Klasse (1930)
[18]
Laity J.E. "Ventifact evidence for Holocene wind patterns in the east‐central Mojave Desert" Z. Geomorphol. Supl. (1992)
[26]
Mahon R.C. (2013)
[27]
Mahon R.C. "Geochronologic and stratigraphic constraints on the Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic Pahrump Group, Death Valley, California: A record of the assembly, stability, and breakup of Rodinia" Dengue Bull. (2014)
[29]
Holocene climate variability

Paul A. Mayewski, Eelco E. Rohling, J. Curt Stager et al.

Quaternary Research 10.1016/j.yqres.2004.07.001
[36]
Pelletier J.D. "Controls on yardang development and morphology: 1. Field observations and measurements at Ocotillo Wells, California" Case Rep. Med. (2018)
[41]
A simple expression for wind erosion threshold friction velocity

Yaping Shao, Hua Lu

Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 10.1029/2000jd900304
[49]
A Scale of Grade and Class Terms for Clastic Sediments

Chester K. Wentworth

The Journal of Geology 10.1086/622910

Showing 50 of 54 references

Metrics
2
Citations
54
References
Details
Published
Sep 23, 2024
Vol/Issue
72(1)
Pages
258-274
License
View
Funding
Army Research Office Award: W911NF2110063
Cite This Article
Taylor Dorn, Mackenzie Day (2024). Spatial variability in aeolian abrasion: Ibex Dune Field, Death Valley National Park. Sedimentology, 72(1), 258-274. https://doi.org/10.1111/sed.13233
Related

You May Also Like