First quantification of relationship between dune orientation and sediment availability, Olympia Undae, Mars

Dunes provide unique information about wind regimes on planetary bodies where there is no direct meteorological data. At the eastern margin of Olympia Undae on Mars, dune orientation is measured from satellite imagery and sediment cover is estimated using the high contrast between the dune material...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Earth and planetary science letters 2018-05, Vol.489, p.241-250
Main Authors: Fernandez-Cascales, Laura, Lucas, Antoine, Rodriguez, Sébastien, Gao, Xin, Spiga, Aymeric, Narteau, Clément
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
aeolian transport
bedform alignment
Continental interfaces, environment
dunes
Earth Sciences
Geomorphology
Geophysics
Mars
Planetology
Sciences of the Universe
sediment cover
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Summary:Dunes provide unique information about wind regimes on planetary bodies where there is no direct meteorological data. At the eastern margin of Olympia Undae on Mars, dune orientation is measured from satellite imagery and sediment cover is estimated using the high contrast between the dune material and substrate. The analysis of these data provide the first quantification of relationship between sediment availability and dune orientation. Abrupt and smooth dune reorientations are associated with inward and outward dynamics of dunes approaching and ejecting from major sedimentary bodies, respectively. These reorientation patterns along sediment transport pathways are interpreted using a new generation dune model based on the coexistence of two dune growth mechanisms. This model also permits solving of the inverse problem of predicting the wind regime from dune orientation. For bidirectional wind regimes, solutions of this inverse problem show substantial differences in the distributions of sediment flux orientation, which can be attributed to atmospheric flow variations induced by changes in albedo at the boundaries of major dune fields. Then, we conclude that relationships between sediment cover and dune orientation can be used to constrain wind regime and dune field development on Mars and other planetary surfaces. •First quantification of the dependence of dune orientation on sediment availability.•Sharp and smooth dune reorientations along sediment transport pathways.•Inverse problem of predicting the wind regime from dune orientation.
ISSN:0012-821X
1385-013X
DOI:10.1016/j.epsl.2018.03.001