Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T09:51:36.239Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bagnold's Barchan: A 57-Yr Record of Dune Movement in the Eastern Sahara and Implications for Dune Origin and Paleoclimate Since Neolithic Times

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

C. Vance Haynes Jr.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Discovery in 1980 of Camp 18 of the 1930 Bagnold expedition in northwestern Sudan has resulted in an exceptionally long record of barchan movement from which an average rate of 7.5 m/yr has been calculated. Measurements of the rate of dune advance since 1980 have not varied significantly, indicating a state of quasiequilibrium exists. The dune field is moving over an undulating sand sheet exhibiting various stages of Holocene pedogenesis and containing Neolithic sites. The sand sheet overlies Pleistocene alluvium with stronger stages of pedogenesis. All of these deposits may be a significant source of dune sand. Wind-blown grass fragments trapped by advancing slipfaces mark former slipface positions and indicate late Holocene rainfall events, which can be radiocarbon dated. Parabolic forms (revealed by SPOT images) at the windward ends of the dune fields are transitional to barchans, suggesting sand accumulation in vegetation germinated during a Holocene wet period. In addition, sand streaks from sand-sheet undulations suggest that active eolian erosion of sand sheets contributes to the sand supply of dune fields. Pedogenesis during pluvial periods contributes to silt and clay fractions of bimodal sand sheet sediments. From wind streaks on LANDSAT images and an estimated average rate of dune advance, positions of dune fields during past hyperarid periods can be estimated.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 32 , Issue 2 , September 1989 , pp. 153 - 167
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bagnold, R.A., (1931). Journeys in the Libyan Desert Geographical Journal 78, 13–39 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bagnold, R.A., (1931). Journeys in the Libyan Desert Geographical Journal 78, 524–535 Google Scholar
Bagnold, R.A., (1941). The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes Methuen London Google Scholar
Banks, K.M., (1984). Climates, Cultures and Cattle: The Holocene Archaeology of the Eastern Sahara Southern Methodist University Dallas Google Scholar
Beadnell, H.J.L., (1910). The sand dunes of the Libyan Desert Geographical Journal 35, 379–395 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breed, C.S. McCauley, J.F. Davis, P.A., (1987). Sand sheets of the eastern Sahara and ripple blankets on Mars Desert Sediments—Ancient and Modern Frostick, L. Reid, I. Geological Society of London, Special Paper 35 Blackwell London 337–359 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Embabi, N.S., (1982). Barchans of the Kharga depression Desert Landforms of Southwest Egypt: A Basis for Comparison with Mars El-Baz, F. Maxwell, T.A. NASA Conference Publication CR-3611 141–155 Washington, DC Google Scholar
Folk, R.L., (1968). Bimodal supermature sandstones: Product of the desert floor Proceedings, 23rd International Geological Congress Prague 9–32 Section 8 Google Scholar
Folk, R.L., (1971). Longitudinal dunes of the northwestern edge of the Simpson Desert, Northern Territory, Australia. 1. Geomorphology and grain size relationships Sedimentology 16, 5–54 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greeley, R. Iverson, J.D., (1985). Wind as a Geologic Process Cambridge Univ. Press Cambridge CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haynes, C.V. Jr. (1982). Great Sand Sea and Selima Sand Sheet: Geochronology of desertification Science 217, 629–633 [N and S of Fig. 4b should be reversed.] Google ScholarPubMed
Haynes, C.V. Jr. (1984). Western Desert Quaternary Studies: Preliminary report on the 1984 field season Submitted for publication Google Scholar
Haynes, C.V. Jr. (1985). Quaternary studies, Western Desert, Egypt and Sudan—1979–1983 field seasons National Geographic Society Research Reports 16, 269–341 Google Scholar
Haynes, C.V. Jr. Holocene migration rates of the Sudano-Sahelian wetting front, Arba'in Desert, eastern Sahara Close, A.E., (1987). Prehistory of Arid North Africa Southern Methodist Univ. Press Dallas 69–84 Google Scholar
Haynes, C.V. Jr. Johnson, D.L., (1984). A provisional soil chronosequence for the Quaternary of the eastern Sahara Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 16, 534–535 Google Scholar
Haynes, C.V. Jr. Mehringer, P.J. Jr. Johnson, D.L. Haas, H. Muller, A.B. El Zaghloul, El S. Swedan, A. Wyerman, T.A., (1987). Evidence for the first nuclear-age recharge of shallow ground-water, Arba'in Desert, Egypt National Geographic Research 3, 431–438 Google Scholar
Howard, A.D. Morton, J.B. Gad-El-Hak, M. Pierce, D.B., (1978). Sand transport model of barchan dune equilibrium Sedimentology 25, 307–338 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, J. Lerman, J.C. Damon, P.E. Linick, T.W., (1980). Radiocarbon concentration in the atmosphere: 8000-yr record of variations in tree rings: First results of a USA workshop Radiocarbon 22, 950–961 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lettau, K. Lettau, H.H., (1978). Experimental and micro-meterological field studies of dune migration Exploring the World's Driest Climate Lettau, H.H. Lettau, K. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Institute for Environmental Studies, IES Report 101 110–147 Google Scholar
Long, A. Haynes, C.V. Jr. Haas, H. Linick, T., (1985). Radiocarbon evidence and rainfall frequency in the Arba'in Desert, eastern Sahara International Radiocarbon Conference, 12th Trondheim, Norway Poster Session Google Scholar
Marrs, R.W. Gaylord, D.R., (1982). Techniques for interpretation of windflow characteristics from eolian landforms Interpretation of Windflow Characteristics from Landforms Marrs, R.W. Kolm, K.E. Geological Society of America Special Paper 192 3–17 Google Scholar
Maxwell, T.A., (1982). Sand sheet and lag deposits in the southwestern desert Desert Landforms of Southwest Egypt: A Basis for Comparison with Mars El-Baz, F. Maxwell, T.A. NASA Conference Publication CR-3611 157–173 Washington, DC Google Scholar
Maxwell, T.A. Haynes, C.V. Jr. (1987). Sand transport rates measured from large scale bedforms in the sand sheet environment of western Egypt and northern Sudan Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 19, 762–763 Google Scholar
McCauley, J.F. Breed, C.S. Schaber, G.G. McHugh, W.P. Issawi, B. Haynes, C.V. Jr. Grolier, M.J. El Kilani, A., (1986). Paleodrainages of the Eastern Sahara—The Radar Rivers Revisited (SIR-A/B Implications for a Mid-Tertiary Trans-African Drainage System) 624–648 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Transactions on Remote Sensing GE-24 Google Scholar
McCauley, J.F. Schaber, G.G. Breed, C.S. Grolier, M.J. Haynes, C.V. Jr. Issawi, B. Elachi, C. Blom, R., (1982). Subsurface valleys and geoarchaeology of the eastern Sahara revealed by Shuttle radar Science 218, 1004–1020 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pachur, H.-J. Röper, H.-P. Kröpelin, S. Goschin, M., (1987). Late Quaternary Hydrography of the Eastern Sahara 331–384 Berliner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen, Reihe A/B and 75.2 Google Scholar
Ritchie, J.C. Eyles, C.H. Haynes, C.V. Jr. (1985). Sediment and pollen evidence for an early to mid-Holocene humid period in the eastern Sahara Nature (London) 314, 352–355 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Said, R., (1980). The Quaternary sediments of the southern Western Desert of Egypt: An overview Wendorf, F. Schild, R. Prehistory of the Eastern Sahara Academic Press New York 281–289 Google Scholar
Tsoar, H., (1986). Two-dimensional analysis of dune profile and the effects of grain size on sand dune morphology El-Baz, F. Hassan, M.H.A. Physics of Desertification Niihoff Dordrecht 94–108 Google Scholar
Warren, A., (1970). Dune trends and their implications in the central Sudan Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie Suppl. 10 154–180 Google Scholar
Warren, A., (1972). Observations on dunes and bimodal sands in the Tenere Desert Sedimentology 19, 37–44 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wendorf, F. Schild, R., (1980). Prehistory of the Eastern Sahara Academic Press New York Google Scholar
Wilson, R.T., (1978). The “gizu”: Winter grazing in the south Libyan Desert Journal of Arid Environments 1, 325–342 Google Scholar