Fine dust emissions from active sands at coastal Oceano Dunes, California

Huang, Yongjun; Kok, Jasper F.; Martin, Raleigh L.; Swet, Nitzan; Katra, Itzhak; Gill, Thomas E.; Reynolds, Richard L.; Freire, Livia S.

doi:10.5194/acp-19-2947-2019

Cited by 36 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 109 publications

(181 reference statements)

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“…The significantly higher sandblasting efficiency of the feldspar-quartz is in contrast with the small difference found in the PM 10 concentrations of noncoated sands (Figure 2). Field experiments on coated feldspar-quartz sand (Huang et al, 2019) showed relatively low PM 10 emissions compared to other nonsandy soils but a bit higher than those received from the noncoated feldspar-quartz sand in this study. The dust emission described for the coated feldspar-quartz sand is in general considered as low (Huang et al, 2019), and therefore, the impact of the coatings removal on the dust emission is probably small.…”

Section: 1029/2020jf005545contrasting

confidence: 56%

“…Field experiments on coated feldspar-quartz sand (Huang et al, 2019) showed relatively low PM 10 emissions compared to other nonsandy soils but a bit higher than those received from the noncoated feldspar-quartz sand in this study. The dust emission described for the coated feldspar-quartz sand is in general considered as low (Huang et al, 2019), and therefore, the impact of the coatings removal on the dust emission is probably small. Thus, the difference in the sandblasting efficiency between the coated feldspar-quartz sand (green in Figure 5) and the noncoated feldspar-quartz sand (blue in Figure 5) is relatively low.…”

Section: 1029/2020jf005545contrasting

confidence: 56%

“…However, all the abovementioned studies have been carried out in artificial conditions of glass "test-tube" chambers that do not simulate natural aeolian processes of saltating sand particles (Bullard et al, 2004(Bullard et al, , 2007Kuenen, 1960;Smith et al, 1991;Whalley et al, 1982Whalley et al, , 1987Wright et al, 1998). Recent aeolian simulations in a boundary layer wind tunnel and field measurements have suggested that aeolian abrasion produces only a minor contribution to dust generation from active sands (Huang et al, 2019;Swet et al, 2019). Both studies show that the removal of clay coatings from the surface of quartz and feldspar sands is a dominant mechanism of dust emission.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Low Dust Generation Potential From Active Sand Grains by Wind Abrasion

et al. 2020

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Wind-driven dust emission has a major impact on many environmental and socioeconomic issues such as climate change, soil loss, biogeochemical cycles, and air pollution. It is generally assumed that the main global dust sources consist of nonsandy soils with high percentages of fine-sized clay and silt particles. However, in recent years, it has been hypothesized that active sand bodies can generate significant dust emissions through the mechanism of sand abrasion. Moreover, sand abrasion has been used to explain the formation of certain soils on Earth and Mars. Here, we test the hypothesis that sand abrasion can generate substantial dust emissions by performing targeted wind tunnel experiments on sand grains in the absence of clay and silt particles. We find only minor emissions of particulate matter from noncoated active sands under wind conditions typical of natural sand transport. The findings suggest that the dust generated by the mechanism of sand abrasion is less than dust generated by the removal of clay minerals coated on sand grain surfaces; both mechanisms on active sands produce far less dust than nonsandy soils. Feldspar sand was found to be slightly more effective at generating dust through abrasion than quartz sand. However, due to the low spatial coverage of feldspar sands in active sands worldwide, dust generated from feldspar abrasion may produce a relatively small contribution to global dust emissions. We thus conclude that sand abrasion by wind transport has a low potential to generate dust-sized particles from active sands.

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Section: 1029/2020jf005545contrasting

confidence: 56%

Section: 1029/2020jf005545contrasting

confidence: 56%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Low Dust Generation Potential From Active Sand Grains by Wind Abrasion

et al. 2020

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“…This suggests that much of the emitted material from dune areas is composed of previously deposited fines. The available information suggests, however, that much of this material is much finer (PM 10 , PM 2.5 ) than coarse silt (e.g., Sweeney et al, 2016; Huang et al, 2019), but the instrumentation to produce these data only measured the finer particles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Oceano coastal dune field of south-central California is unusual, in that it is a source of fine particulate matter (PM 10 and PM 2.5 ) that gives rise to exceedance of state and federal air-quality standards downwind (Huang et al, 2019). Oceano dune sands are mineralogically immature and are characterized by a high content (46% by mass) of feldspar grains, which may be partially weathered in this salt-rich environment, as well as clay minerals.…”

Section: Field Studies Of Dust Emissions and Abrasion From Dune Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the formation of desert loess

Lancaster

2020

Quat. res.

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Sequences of quartz-rich coarse (20−63 μm) silt occur in many low- and midlatitude unglaciated arid and semiarid areas and have been termed “desert loess.” The processes by which these deposits are generated have been debated for decades. All hypotheses to explain their origin seek to provide mechanisms for the generation of silt-sized material without glacial grinding, which is the main process involved in the production of coarse silt at high latitudes. Possible mechanisms for the formation of coarse silt in arid regions include derivation from preexisting siltstones, mechanical weathering of silicate rocks, and abrasion of sand grains in active dune environments during intense transport events. Examination of the characteristics of desert loess and field and laboratory experiments to assess the role of dune areas as a source of coarse silt by abrasion and/or resuspension of residual fines suggests that many loess sequences are dominated by locally derived coarse silt. Improvements in the characterization of desert loess particle size, mineralogy, and geochemistry are needed, however, to identify sources and sinks of coarse silt, especially when combined with climatic back-trajectory analysis. Properly scaled experiments and modeling of particle collisions will also help to better quantify the effectiveness of abrasion in the generation of coarse silt in support of field observations.

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Assessing performance of a “nature‐based” foredune restoration project, Oceano Dunes, California, USA

Walker

Hilgendorf

Gillies

et al. 2022

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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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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Fine dust emissions from active sands at coastal Oceano Dunes, California

Cited by 36 publications

References 109 publications

Low Dust Generation Potential From Active Sand Grains by Wind Abrasion

Low Dust Generation Potential From Active Sand Grains by Wind Abrasion

On the formation of desert loess

Assessing performance of a “nature‐based” foredune restoration project, Oceano Dunes, California, USA

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