NASA Contractor Report 4149 A Bibliography of Dunes: Earth, Mars, and Venus N. Lancaster COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT NCC2-346 JUNE 1988 _ ..v' t_, 111111111111111111111111111111111/1/1/1/1/111 NI\S/\ NF01829 NASA Contractor Report 4149 A Bibliography of Dunes: Earth, Mars, and Venus N. Lancaster Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona Prepared for NASA Office of Space Science and Appltcations under Cooperative Agreement NCC2-346 NI\SI\ National Aeronautics and Space Administration SCientific and Techmcal Information Division 1988 T ABLE OF CONTENTS Preface.................................................................... v Acknowledgements..................................................... v Dunes as a Planetary Landform... .... .... .... ..... ..... ..... ...... 1 Facets of Dune Study .................................... ........................... 3 Characteristics of Dunes ........................................... ... .... 5 Subject Index............................................................ 11 Geographical Index..................................................... 23 Bibliography............................................................. 31 iii This Page Intentionally left Blank PREFACE Dunes are important depositional Likewise, work on aeolian sandstones landforms and sedimentary has been excluded, except where it environments on Earth and Mars, and includes a significant discussion of may be important on Venus. The modern aeolian environments. Material similarity of dune forms on Earth and on planetary aeolian processes and Mars, together with the dynamic terrestrial analogs for martian and similarity of aeolian processes on the venusian aeolian processes has been terrestrial planets indIcates that it is included where it relates to dunes. The appropriate to interpret dune forms and bibhography includes major references processes on Mars and Venus by using to studies of aeolian sediment transport, analog studies. but does not reference all studies of an However, the literature on dune applied nature, such those on studIes is large, and scattered in a wide desertification and dune stabilization. variety of sources. The aim of this For a bibliography of desertificatlon bibliography is to assist Investigators and allied topics, the reader is referred by providing a literature resource on to Busche et al. (1984). techniques which have proved Since 1970, interest in aeolian successful in elucidating dune sediments and dunes has increased characteristics and processes on Earth, considerably. This is the result of the Mars and Venus. This bibliography availability of Landsat images of most documents the many investigations of desert areas; the Viking Missions to dunes undertaken within the last Mars; the discovery of oil and gas in century or so, and continues the Mesozoic aeolian sandstones in the bibliography of Warren (1969). It western USA; and the increased concentrates on studies of inland dunes development of many desert regions, In both hot and cold desert regions on especIally in the Middle East and China. Earth and includes investigations of The size of this bIbliography, compared coastal dunes only If they discuss to that of Warren (1969) reflects this matters of general significance for dune increased interest. sediments, processes or morphology. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank Jenny Hallward and improved the format and ease of use of Judith Lancaster for the many hours of this work very considerably. work they put in searching for and Facilities and support from R. checking references, which made Greeley through NASA Grant NCC 2- compiling this bibliography pOSSIble. 346 made it possible to publish this Critical reviews by Gary Kocurek, work in its present form. Haim Tsoar and Andrew Warren v DUNES AS A PLANETARY LANDFORM Wind action is a major geological Important dune areas also occur in the process modifying the surface of the cold arid and semi arid regions of terrestrial planets, especially the Earth Canada, the western USA and Alaska, and Mars (Greeley, 1981). Conditions and central Asia. Many of these dunes on Venus, and possibly Titan, also possess distinctive sedimentary features appear to be capable of supportIng (Ahlbrandt and Andrews, 1978). On aeolian processes. the margins of many currently active or unvegetated sand seas and dunefields Dunes on Earth there are extensive areas of dunes Dunes, mostly of quartz sand, but which are partly or completely inactive also including those composed of and vegetated. Many of these dunes gypsum and volcanic sand and clay were active at intervals during the pellets, are probably the most important Pleistocene, most recently in the period aeolian depositional landform, and coeval with the last Glacial Maximum commonly occupy between 10 and 35% (Sarnthein, 1978). They provide of the area of most desert regions on valuable information on the extent and Earth (Table 1). Dunes are most distribution of desert climates at these widespread in the old world deserts of times. Also active in Glacial periods Africa, Australia, the Middle East and were the many periglacial dunefields, central Asia the most extensive of which were located in the northern Great Plains of Table 1 the USA, and in Poland. Percent of area covered by dunes In major arld regwns Dunes on Mars Arabia 26.0 Aeolian action appears to dominate Austraha 31.0 the current surface geologic processes Central ASia 4.5 Chma 5.3 on Mars. The importance of global and Sahara 25.0 regional scale dust storms and the Southern Africa 16.0 widespread distribution of eoliam Southwestern USA 0.6 deposits and landforms has been Sources: Clements et aI., 1963; Mabbutt, described by many investigators (e.g. 1971; Mamguet and Canon, 1976. Breed et al., 1979; Cutts and Smith, 1973; Christensen, 1983; Greeley, Most dunes are aggregated into 1981, Greeley et al., 1985; Thomas, more or less continuous sand bodies 1981,1982; Tsoar et al., 1979; Ward et known as sand seas (McKee, 1979a) or al.. 1985). Extensive areas of dunes ergs (Wilson, 1973). Often smaller occur in the high to mid latitudes both areas of dunes, such as those in the hemispheres (Breed et al. 1979; North American deserts, are termed Thomas 1982) and cover some 1.2 x 6 2 dunefields. 10 km or 0.84 % of the planet's On Earth, the majority of important surface. Those in the northern sand seas and dunefields are located in hemisphere lie mostly in the North low-latitude hot deserts (Fig. 1). Polar sand sea (Tsoar et al., 1979) in 1 WhICh 90% of Martian dunes are The dunefields of Mars, especially situated. This is the largest sand sea the North Polar Sand Sea, represent known, and covers an area of 7 - 8 x major accumulations of sediment. The 105 km2 (Tsoar et aI., 1979). source of this sediment and the The dunes of the southern conditions under which it has hemisphere are situated mainly within accumulated as dunefields are still a craters, between latitudes -40 and -60 0 matter of controversy. A major and longitudes 160 - 225 o. There are problem is a source of SUItable sand­ also a number of small dunefields in sized material for dune building. equatorial regions. Potential sources include the weathenng Dunefields in both hemispheres products of basaltic lava flows (Tsoar et appear to be dominated by crescentIc aI., 1979); the Polar layered deposits and barchan dunes (Breed et aI., 1979; (Breed et aI., 1979; Thomas, 1982) or Tsoar et aI., 1979), indicating a the fretted terrain of high latitude basically unidirectional wind regime. southern hemisphere regions Reversing crestlines were, however, (McCauley et aI., 1981). recognised by Tsoar et aI. (1979). Cutts It is clear that, despite the work of and Smith (1973) identified reversing many investigators, important questions and star-like dunes in some southern remain to be answered about the nature hemisphere intra crater dunefields, of dune patterns on Mars and their suggesting that seasonal wind direction relationship to past and present dune­ changes probably occur. forming winds; as well as the role of The relationship between dune dunes in global and regional scale patterns and formative winds remains sediment transport patterns on the uncertain and there is poor agreement planet. between the alignment patterns of the dunes and published models of wind Dunes on Venus. patterns (Ward and Doyle, 1983). This The potential for aeolian processes may suggest that, in part, the dunefields on Venus has been shown by are paleoforms, which may have theoretical (Iversen et aI., 1976) and originated in periods when Martian wind tunnel studies (Greeley, Iversen et atmospheric density was higher al .. 1984). Venera images (Basilevsky (McCauley et aI., 1979). Breed et aI. et aI., 1984) also show structures that (1979) present evidence to show that could be aeolian bedforms. some North Polar Sand Sea dunes are Greeley, Marshall & Leach (1984) eroding today, or being modified under have produced small aeohan bedforms a long-term change in wind regimes. in a simulated Venusian environment. In contrast, Tsoar et aI. (1979) and These bedforms, termed mIcrodunes, Ward and Doyle (1983) present are believed to be true dunes analogous evidence to indicate that the dunes of to those on Earth and form at low wind the North Polar Sand Sea are currently velocities. Greeley and his co-workers active. Thomas (1981) suggests propose that the microdunes are capable southern hemisphere dunefields are of very rapid rates of movement and aligned with current winds. may grow into large features 2 Fig.1. Distribution of major low latitude