Recent developments in planetary Aeolian studies and their terrestrial analogs

Zimbelman, J. R.; Bourke, M. C.; Lorenz, Ralph D.

doi:10.1016/j.aeolia.2013.04.004

Cited by 19 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 191 publications

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“…Linear dunes can reach hundreds of kilometres in length, and more than a hundred metres in height, with an interdune separation of the order of a couple of kilometres (Besler, 2008). Such results of sedimentary transport and deposition processes have been observed on all bodies of the Solar System that have an atmosphere: Venus, Earth, Mars and Titan (Zimbelman et al, 2013).…”

Section: Linear Dunes and Mega-yardangs On Earthsupporting

confidence: 56%

Radar scattering of linear dunes and mega-yardangs: Application to Titan

Paillou

Seignovert

Radebaugh

et al. 2016

Icarus

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The Ku-band (13.8 GHz -2.2 cm) RADAR instrument onboard the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft has revealed the richness of the surface of Titan, as numerous seas, lakes, rivers, cryo-volcanic flows and vast dune fields have been discovered. Linear dunes are a major geomorphological feature present on Titan, covering up to 17% of its surface, mainly in equatorial regions. However, the resolution of the RADAR instrument is not good enough to allow a detailed study of the morphology of these features. In addition, other linear wind-related landforms, such as mega-yardangs (linear wind-abraded ridges formed in cohesive rocks), are likely to present a comparable radar signature that could be confused with the one of dunes. We conducted a comparative study of the radar radiometry of both linear dunes and megayardangs, based on representative terrestrial analogues: the linear dunes located in the Great Sand Sea in western Egypt and in the Namib Desert in Namibia, and the mega-yardangs observed in the Lut Desert in eastern Iran and in the Borkou Desert in northern Chad. We analysed the radar scattering of both terrestrial linear dunes and mega-yardangs, using high-resolution radar images acquired by the X-band (9.6 GHz -3.1 cm) sensor of the TerraSAR-X satellite. Variations seen in the radar response of dunes are the result of a contrast between the dune and interdune scattering, while for mega-yardangs these variations are the result of a contrast between ridges and erosion valleys. We tested a simple surface scattering model, with parameters derived from the local topography and surface roughness estimates, to accurately reproduce the radar signal variations for both landforms. It appears that we can discriminate between two types of dunes -bare interdunes as in Egypt and sand-covered interdunes as in Namibia, and between two types of mega-yardangs -young yardangs as in Iran and older ones as in Chad. We applied our understanding of the radar scattering to the analysis of Cassini RADAR T8 acquisitions over the Belet Sand Sea on Titan, and show that the linear dunes encountered there are likely to be of both Egyptian and Namibian type. We also show that the radar-bright linear features observed in Cassini RADAR T64 and T83 acquisitions are very likely to be mega-yardangs, possible remnants of ancient lake basins at mid-latitude, formed when Titans climate was different.

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Section: Linear Dunes and Mega-yardangs On Earthsupporting

confidence: 56%

Radar scattering of linear dunes and mega-yardangs: Application to Titan

Paillou

Seignovert

Radebaugh

et al. 2016

Icarus

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“…A good introduction to dune systems on planetary bodies in our solar system will be found in Bourke et al (2010). This review was updated by Zimbelman et al (2013) and Fenton et al (2013). A more recent review by Diniega et al (2017) includes other planetary bodies such as Pluto and Io.…”

Section: Further Readingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Planetary Aeolian Geomorphology

Bourke

Balme

Lewis

et al. 2019

Aeolian Geomorphology

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Aeolian processes play an essential role not only in the dynamics of beaches and deserts on the Earth, but also contribute to surface landforms on several bodies in our solar system. 11.2 Planetary Atmospheres There are at least four bodies in our solar system that have sufficient enough atmosphere to sustain winds that can transport sediment: Mars, Titan, Venus, and Earth. These atmospheres interact with geological processes and influence the morphology and composition of surfaces (Grotzinger et al. 2013). 11.2.1 Mars Landforms and geochemical signatures suggest that the atmosphere of Mars was significantly thicker in its past, even as Mars today has the thinnest atmosphere of all the bodies that contain confirmed aeolian features. On Mars. the orbital parameters of

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“…As opposed to the ongoing studies in planetary aeolian morphologies [Zimbelman, 1986;Bourke et al, 2010, Craddock, 2012Zimbelman et al, 2013], wind streaks on Earth are relatively unexplored and understudied [Cohen-Zada et al, 2016]. Because of the presence of liquid water and vegetation on Earth, many aspects of aeolian erosion are much harder to assess when compared to Mars [Cohen-Zada et al, 2016].…”

Section: 1002/2017je005293mentioning

confidence: 99%

The western Qaidam Basin as a potential Martian environmental analogue: An overview

Anglés

2017

JGR Planets

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The early Martian environment is interpreted as warmer and wetter, before a significant change in its global climatic conditions irreversibly led to the current hyperarid environments. This transition is one of the most intriguing processes of Martian history. The extreme climatic change is preserved in the salt deposits, desiccated landscapes, and geomorphological structures that were shaped by the evaporation of water. However, until a manned journey to Mars is feasible, many Martian materials, morphological structures, and much of its evolutionary history will continue to be poorly understood. In this regard, searching and investigating Martian analogues are still meaningful. To find an Earth environment with a whole set of Martian structures distributed at a scale comparable to Mars is even more important to test landing crafts and provide optimized working parameters for rovers. The western Qaidam Basin in North Tibetan Plateau is such a Martian analogue. The area harbors one of the most extreme hyperarid environments on Earth and contains a series of ancient lakes that evaporated at different evolutionary stages during the rise of the Tibetan Plateau. Large quantities of salts and geomorphological features formed during the transition of warmer‐and‐wet to colder‐and‐dry conditions provide unique references to study the modern Martian surface and interpret the orbital data. We present numerous similarities and results of investigations that suggest the Qaidam Basin as a potential analogue to study modern geomorphic processes on Mars, and suggest that this is an essential site to test future Mars sample return missions.

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Recent developments in planetary Aeolian studies and their terrestrial analogs

Cited by 19 publications

References 191 publications

Radar scattering of linear dunes and mega-yardangs: Application to Titan

Radar scattering of linear dunes and mega-yardangs: Application to Titan

Planetary Aeolian Geomorphology

The western Qaidam Basin as a potential Martian environmental analogue: An overview

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