The formation of the Kelso Dunes in the eastern Mojave Desert, California, was a landscape-changing event triggered by an increase in sediment supply that followed the incision of Afton Canyon by the Mojave River ca. 25 ka. Eastward migration of sand dunes occurred along a well-defined eolian transport corridor. Dunes temporarily blocked washes resulting in substantial aggradation of eolian and fluvial sediments. Stratigraphic exposures reveal numerous fining-up sequences with interbedded eolian sands that provide evidence of dune dams and subsequent aggradation. Luminescence ages reveal that dune blocking and aggradation correspond to a regional pulse of alluvial fan sedimentation that occurred ca. 14−9 ka. Meanwhile, relative landscape stability occurred downstream of dune dams, resulting in the formation of a moderately developed soil on abandoned fluvial deposits. The next pulse of alluvial fan activity ca. 6−3 ka likely resulted in the breaching of the dune dams, followed by incision. Eolian system sediment state theory suggests that eolian activity in the Mojave Desert is closely tied to enhanced sediment supply, primarily related to the Mojave River−Lake Mojave system. Our data suggests that Intermittent Lake Mojave I, ca. 26−22 ka, triggered a large dune-building event that impounded massive amounts of sediment derived from alluvial fans deposited during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Breaching of dune dams and sediment recycling may have also increased sediment supply that contributed to late Holocene eolian activity. This profound impact on the regional geomorphology highlights the critical importance of eolian-fluvial interactions in desert environments.
Groundwater and surface water are often studied as different systems; however, one commonly affects the other. Bank storage, the temporary storage and release of stream water in adjacent aquifers, can contribute a considerable amount of discharge to a river and can be a component in the transport and fate of a contaminant. Studies document the effects of increasing stage and increasing storm duration; however, these controls are often investigated separately. This project examined which factor, peak stage or storm duration, was more influential on the bank-storage process. The study focused on a small reach of a third-order, meandering, perennial stream. A 3-D, transient-state numerical model (MODFLOW) was created of the study site, and 36 simulations were run at various peak stages and storm durations. Peak stage and storm durations, while both influential, affected different areas of the bank-storage process. Peak stage was statistically more influential in controlling the maximum volume of bank storage (~3.6×) and the volume of the storage that remained in the system at 100 h (~1.1×). Longer storm duration generated a slower return of water, thus increasing the retention of bank storage. Parafluvial exchange was an important factor in bank storage along a meandering stream, suggesting that at least 2-D, ideally 3-D, models need to be employed in evaluating bank storage.
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