“…The timing and mechanisms of dune‐field activation and consequent stabilization (dune emplacement hereafter) are ascribed to changes in climate and sediment supply, which affect vegetation, storminess, fire frequency, sea‐surface temperatures, and sea level (e.g. Han et al, 2021; Shumack & Hesse, 2018; Vimpere et al, 2021; Yan & Baas, 2017). These interpretations have largely been demonstrated on active and/or recently emplaced sections of dune fields, where physical measurements or repeat aerial/satellite imagery are available (e.g.…”
Here we present a novel application of landscape smoothing with time to generate a detailed chronology of a large and complex dune field. K'gari (Fraser Island) and the Cooloola Sand Mass (CSM) dune fields host thousands of emplaced (relict) and active onlapping parabolic dunes that span 800 000 years in age. While the dune fields have a dating framework, their sheer size (~1930 km2) makes high‐resolution dating of the entire system infeasible. Leveraging newly acquired (n = 8) and previously published (n = 20) optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from K'gari and the CSM, we estimate the age of Holocene dunes by building a surface roughness (σC)–age relationship model. In this study, we define σC as the standard deviation of topographic curvature for a dune area and we demonstrate an exponential relationship (r2 = 0.942, RMSE = 0.892 ka) between σC and timing of dune emplacement on the CSM. This relationship is validated using ages from K'gari. We calculate σC utilizing a 5 m digital elevation model and apply our model to predict the ages of 726 individually delineated Holocene dunes. The timing of dune emplacement events is assessed by plotting cumulative probability density functions derived from both measured and predicted dune ages. We demonstrate that both dune fields had four major phases of dune emplacement, peaking at <0.5, ~1.5, ~4, and ~8.5 ka. We observe that our predicted dune ages did not create or remove major events when compared to the OSL‐dated sequence, but instead reinforced these patterns. Our study highlights that σC–age modelling can be an easily applied relative or absolute dating tool for dune fields globally. This systematic approach can fill in chronological gaps using only high‐resolution elevation data (3–20 m resolution) and a limited set of dune ages.
“…The timing and mechanisms of dune‐field activation and consequent stabilization (dune emplacement hereafter) are ascribed to changes in climate and sediment supply, which affect vegetation, storminess, fire frequency, sea‐surface temperatures, and sea level (e.g. Han et al, 2021; Shumack & Hesse, 2018; Vimpere et al, 2021; Yan & Baas, 2017). These interpretations have largely been demonstrated on active and/or recently emplaced sections of dune fields, where physical measurements or repeat aerial/satellite imagery are available (e.g.…”
Here we present a novel application of landscape smoothing with time to generate a detailed chronology of a large and complex dune field. K'gari (Fraser Island) and the Cooloola Sand Mass (CSM) dune fields host thousands of emplaced (relict) and active onlapping parabolic dunes that span 800 000 years in age. While the dune fields have a dating framework, their sheer size (~1930 km2) makes high‐resolution dating of the entire system infeasible. Leveraging newly acquired (n = 8) and previously published (n = 20) optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages from K'gari and the CSM, we estimate the age of Holocene dunes by building a surface roughness (σC)–age relationship model. In this study, we define σC as the standard deviation of topographic curvature for a dune area and we demonstrate an exponential relationship (r2 = 0.942, RMSE = 0.892 ka) between σC and timing of dune emplacement on the CSM. This relationship is validated using ages from K'gari. We calculate σC utilizing a 5 m digital elevation model and apply our model to predict the ages of 726 individually delineated Holocene dunes. The timing of dune emplacement events is assessed by plotting cumulative probability density functions derived from both measured and predicted dune ages. We demonstrate that both dune fields had four major phases of dune emplacement, peaking at <0.5, ~1.5, ~4, and ~8.5 ka. We observe that our predicted dune ages did not create or remove major events when compared to the OSL‐dated sequence, but instead reinforced these patterns. Our study highlights that σC–age modelling can be an easily applied relative or absolute dating tool for dune fields globally. This systematic approach can fill in chronological gaps using only high‐resolution elevation data (3–20 m resolution) and a limited set of dune ages.
“…While other effects, including fire, anthropogenic activities, animal actions, and other local disturbances to the land surface can trigger eolian activity (Hesp, 2002; Arterburn et al, 2018; Barrineau et al, 2019), multiple lines of evidence indicate that droughts of greater than normal duration—referred to hereafter as “megadroughts” (Woodhouse and Overpeck, 1998; Cook et al, 2016)—have driven eolian activity on a regional scale in the Great Plains during the Late Holocene. Midcontinental megadroughts have been associated with two periods of global climate fluctuation, the MCA (1050 yr to 750 yr) and the LIA (approximately 600 yr to 300 yr), which are identified by climate proxies including eolian activity (Clarke and Rendell, 2003; Goble et al, 2004; Mason et al, 2004; Forman et al, 2005, 2008; Sridhar et al, 2006; Miao et al, 2007b; Halfen et al, 2010; Hanson et al, 2010; Schmeisser et al, 2010; Vimpere et al, 2021), tree rings (Cook et al, 2004, 2007, 2010), lake sediments (Laird et al, 1996; Fritz et al, 2000; Grimm et al, 2011; Hobbs et al, 2011; Schmieder et al, 2011, 2013), and alluvial incision (Burkhart et al, 2008). Figure 1.North American Great Plains province shown in tan.…”
The White River Badlands (WRB) of South Dakota record eolian activity spanning the late Pleistocene through the latest Holocene (21 ka to modern), reflecting the effects of the last glacial period and Holocene climate fluctuations (Holocene Thermal Maximum, Medieval Climate Anomaly, and Little Ice Age). The WRB dune fields are important paleoclimate indicators in an area of the Great Plains with few climate proxies. The goal of this study is to use 1 m/pixel-resolution digital elevation models from drone imagery to distinguish Early to Middle Holocene parabolic dunes from Late Holocene parabolic dunes. Results indicate that relative ages of dunes are distinguished by slope and roughness (terrain ruggedness index). Morphological differences are attributed to postdepositional wind erosion, soil formation, and mass wasting. Early to Middle Holocene and Late Holocene paleowind directions, 324°± 13.1° (N = 7) and 323° ± 3.0° (N = 19), respectively, are similar to the modern wind regime. Results suggest significant landscape resilience to wind erosion, which resulted in preservation of a mosaic of Early and Late Holocene parabolic dunes. Quantification of dune characteristics will help refine the chronology of eolian activity in the WRB, provide insight into drought-driven landscape evolution, and integrate WRB eolian activity in a regional paleoenvironmental context.
“…Most of the inland parabolic dunes are distributed in the semi‐arid to arid regions (Vimpere, Watkins, & Castelltort, 2021; Yan & Baas, 2015) of the Great Plains of North America, the Thar desert in India, and the northern part of mainland China (see Appendix S1 for references). The dunes are found in river valleys and along lake margins where they develop out of the fluvial and lacustrine sandy material, usually at the margin of dune fields (e.g., Kellerlynn, 2012; Marín et al, 2005; Muhs et al, 1996).…”
Parabolic dunes form and migrate in almost every climate and geographic zones of the world, ranging from the tropical coastlines to the arid continental deserts. Despite their extensive distribution and their importance within the aeolian sediment landscape, the understanding of their morphological development, activity and link with climates remains somewhat limited to local or regional scales. A good understanding of the present climate conditions under which parabolic dunes are formed and/or reactivated would be significantly helpful to constrain past climate models. Similarly, an improved knowledge of parabolic dunes behaviour during past climatic episodes would provide some valuable long‐term data to better predict their future activity. This review first aims at providing a non‐exhaustive global database on parabolic dune morphology and the present wind regimes with which they are associated. To do so, the morphology of 750 dunes distributed worldwide was first analysed using a high‐resolution global digital elevation model, suggesting an intrinsic relationship between the different measured morphoparameters. The analysis of the associated local wind regimes shows that parabolic dunes develop under strong unidirectional winds, which are more conspicuous in coastal than continental environments. Dunes of different ages are globally aligned with present prevailing winds, which suggests a prevalent control of long‐term global atmospheric circulation on dune orientations. Finally, this study explores the link between parabolic dune activity and climates over the past 20 000 years by reviewing ages from the literature and combining them with the ones compiled in the INQUA Dunes Atlas Chronologic Database. Overall, it appears that changes towards drier conditions have triggered dunes migration during both warm and cold periods of the Last Glacial Maximum, Holocene Climate Optimum, Roman Climate Optimum, Medieval Climate Optimum and Little Ice Age. The present day aeolian activity is predominantly linked with deteriorating environmental conditions caused by human disturbances.
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