Meteorological controls on sand transport and dune morphology in a polar-desert : Victoria Valley, Antarctica

ICAR 6 : Aeolian processes. Special issue

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)

SPEIRS, J.C.

School of Geography, Planning and Architecture, Univ. of Queensland, Brisbane, Australie

MCGOWAN, H.A.

School of Geography, Planning and Architecture, Univ. of Queensland, Brisbane, Australie

NEIL, D.T.

School of Geography, Planning and Architecture, Univ. of Queensland, Brisbane, Australie

SHAO, Y.

Inst. for Geophysics and Meteorology, Univ., Köln, Allemagne

KOHFELD, K.E.

School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser Univ., Burnaby, Canada

Description :
Meteorological controls on sand transport and changes in dune morphology were monitored for 11 days in November-December 2004 on a barchan dune in the Victoria Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys. Sand transport in this environment was found to be influenced by, 1) interparticle cohesion (ice-bonding); 2) diurnal variations in the speed of thermally driven easterly valley winds due to reduce solar heating by night; and 3) topographically modified foehn southwesterly winds. Warm, dry and gusty foehn southwesterly winds were found to promote aeolian processes by dislodging surface sediments, with dune morphology responding rapidly. As a result, change in the morphology of the dunes of the Victoria Valley may provide an early indication of change in regional weather and climate, possibly due to global climate change.

Type de document :
Congrès

Source :
Internat. Conf. on Aeolian Research (ICAR 6), 6, Guelph, Canada, 2006-07-24/2006-07-26, Earth surface processes and landforms, issn : 0197-9337, 2008, vol. 33, n°. 12, p. 1875-1891, nombre de pages : 17, Références bibliographiques : 2 p.

Date :
2008

Editeur :
Pays édition : Royaume-Uni, Chichester, Wiley

Langue :
Anglais