[1] Bed forms composed of gravel size particles (≈50% of particles >4 mm) are observed in the Wright Valley of the McMurdo Dry Valley system in Antarctica. These bed forms are characterized by a very asymmetrical shape with a mean aspect ratio of 0.025 (standard deviation 0.005), mean wavelength of 2.7 m (AE0.49 m), and a mean height of 0.06 m (AE0.01 m). Particle size analysis of the bed form sediments shows bimodality with a peak near 9 mm and another between 0.5 mm and 0.25 mm. Time-integrated sediment trap samples of horizontal saltation and creep flux indicate the flux of particles ≥4 mm during the two-year monitoring period was extremely low. Measurements of the horizontal displacement of tracer particles (14 mm, 12 mm, 10 mm, 8 mm, and 6 mm diameter) placed onto the bed forms corroborate the low particle flux measurements and limited movement of particles. The bed forms share form and grain size characteristics with both ripples and mega-ripples, showing poor sorting of particles across a single wavelength except for a slight coarsening at the crest similar to ripples, but their sinuosity suggest that transverse instabilities affect their formation similar to mega-ripples. Based on the data for the prevailing environmental conditions it can be argued that the Wright Valley form is an expression of gravel particles moved solely by highly intermittent creep processes. This also argues for the need for a very long period of time for their evolution, on the order of centuries.

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The Oceano Dunes near Pismo Beach, California is part of a large transgressive dune system that extends up to 5 km inland and hosts a state park that has been managed for off-highway vehicle recreation since 1982, although vehicle activity has existed in the dunes for almost 90 years. As a result, foredunes have been largely obliterated and sand surfaces in vehicle use areas are highly emissive of dust-sized particles, causing frequent exceedances of state air quality standards. To reduce dust emissions from the dunes, a nature-based foredune restoration strategy using five different treatments over a 20-ha site was implemented in February 2020.The research hypothesis is that treatments will differ in their ability to promote deposition and dune development and that more intensive planting-based treatments will outperform simpler treatments. We test this using biannual highresolution uncrewed aerial system (UAS) surveys to quantify sediment budgets, sand exchanges between beach, foredune, and backdune components, changes in plant cover, and related dune development over a 2-year period (October 2019-2021).After two full wind and plant-growth seasons, results show that all treatments are maintaining a positive sediment budget (net accumulation), most are developing sizable nebkha dunes (an important stage in foredune development in this region), and some are increasing plant cover and species richness. There is no clear winner, yet two treatments (broadcast native plant and sterile grass seeds, and a highdensity straw planting node with native seedlings) are performing well toward developing an incipient foredune. These results will inform an adaptive management process that could entail further modifications to enhance foredune development. Based on this experience, and with reference to other types of restoration projects, we refine existing criteria used to assess the performance of "dynamic" dune restoration efforts to include settings that involve revegetation (vs. devegetation) as a means for foredune re-establishment.

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Although one-dimensional non-linear diffusion equations are commonly used to model flow dynamics in aquifers and fissures, they disregard multiple effects of real-life flows. Similarity analysis may allow further analytical reduction of these equations, but it is often difficult to provide applicable initial and boundary conditions in practice, or know the magnitude of effects neglected by the 1D model. Furthermore, when multiple simplifying assumptions are made, the sources of discrepancy between modeled and observed data are difficult to identify. We derive one such model of viscous flow in a parabolic fissure from first principals. The parabolic fissure is formed by extruding an upward opening parabola in a horizontal direction. In this setting, permeability is a power law function of height, resulting in a generalized Boussinesq equation. To gauge the effects neglected by this model, 3D Navier-Stokes multiphase flow simulations are conducted for the same geometry. Parameter variations are performed to assess the nature of errors induced by applying the 1D model to a realistic scenario, where the initial and boundary conditions can not be matched exactly. Numerical simulations reveal an undercutting effect observed in laboratory experiments, but not modeled when the Dupuit-Forchheimer assumption is applied. By selectively controlling the effects placed on the free surface in 3D simulations, we are able to demonstrate that free surface slope is the primary driver of the undercutting effect. A consistent lag and overshoot flow regime is observed in the 3D simulations as compared to the 1D model, based on the choice of initial condition. This implies that the undercutting effect is partially induced by the initial condition. Additionally, the presented numerical evidence shows that some of the flow behavior unaccounted for in the 1D model scales with the 1D model parameters.