Describe how sand dunes are formed on beaches and solid surfaces
The high -resolution laser examination in the Namibia desert allowed scientists to describe how to create smaller sand dunes, and those that are not in deserts But on the beaches or solid surfaces.
An international team of researchers, with members of the Southampton, Oxford, Tarburu (UK), Paris (France), Illinois and Denver (United States of America), discovered that the sand that moves on the most difficult and united surfaces Return above and is transferred Easily the wind to form doubts.
Once it falls on a softer and more convergence surface, the sand accumulates Small sand dunes, or “Protodunas”As defined by the researchers in an article collected on Monday in the magazine The facts of the National Academy of Sciences.
Various formation to desert sand dunes
To date, scholars They could not apply their knowledge On how to form desert sand dunes for this smaller range, such as those that are usually found on beaches.
“The theory of how the great sand dunes of the desert desert form a part of the available rule Almost unlimited amounts of soft sand And dry that the wind collects deposits. But this does not explain how small sand dunes form on wet surfaces such as beach or solid gravel areas, says one of the authors, Joe Nilde, a researcher at the University of Southampton.
According to Professor Neld, “in these wet or solid surfaces, sand It is not limited to rolling through the terrainBut it rises to a meter or so, so there is a gradual transition in which the pills notice change the uniform to wavy. “
“Once the sand stump begins to form, this affects Wind patterns“Who adds more sand and helps the growth of sand dunes,” added a researcher at the University of Southampton in a center. The ability to pass from scratch to six centimeters In half an hour. In addition, it can disappear at the speed that appears in it.
Dunar cloning computer model
This new theory, along with high -solution data, was developed by researchers from the University of Paris to create a computer model that reproduces Training dynamics From sand dunes. The model was able to re -create exactly what researchers have noticed in their field studies in arid conditions such as Namibia, but Also in wet conditionsLike Colorado (United States) or Norfolk (UK).
The model also allows equipment to adjust different parameters, such as the amount of sand and wind, to understand Various sand dunes formation scenarios. The authors believe that their results will also help describe how these dunes are formed in Mars and other planets.
