A model of unsaturated soil-water movement using a prediction model of basic physical soil properties for calculating correlation functions was developed using VADOSE/W. The reliability of the model was assessed by comparing the results with those of a soil-column test. Coefficients of determination, R2, between the simulated and the measured daily evaporation for sand-mulch thicknesses of 0 (c...

Large dune fields can overrun for instance infrastructures lying in the way of their motion. Unidirectional wind fields and low sand availability give rise to single barchan dunes moving in the direction of wind. They can interact by directly exchanging their sand through collisions. This kind of interaction plays a crucial role in the evolution of barchan dune fields, for instance on the selec...

This study aims to identify favorable oil–gas reservoir facies in the Chishan group of the Wubao fault zone (Gaoyou sag, Subei basin, China) using the methods of outcrops and cores observation, granularity analysis, scanning electron microscope, log data, etc. The results suggest that the Chishan group in the studied area mainly develops desert sedimentary system, and contains five kinds of fac...

Introduction: Eolian dune fields found within Ti-tan's equatorial region between +30° latitude cover approximately 15-17% of the moon's surface [1]. These dominantly linear dunes are similar in form, size, and radar reflectivity to the large dunes of the Namib, Saharan, Saudi Arabian, and Australian deserts [2][3]. Earth analog studies indicate that the presence of linear dunes suggests adequat...

The study of dune morphology represents a valuable tool in the investigation of planetary wind systems--the primary factor controlling the dune shape is the wind directionality. However, our understanding of dune formation is still limited to the simplest situation of unidirectional winds: There is no model that solves the equations of sand transport under the most common situation of seasonall...

In the present work, we use dune modeling in order to investigate the evolution of transverse dunes in the presence of vegetation. The vegetation is allowed to grow up to a maximum height Hmax with a growth rate R that oscillates in time. We find that the presence of the vegetation establishes a maximum height for the transverse dunes. If the transverse dune is larger than this maximum size, th...

Vegetation greatly affects the formation and dynamics of dune fields in coastal areas. In the present work, we use dune modelling in order to investigate the genesis and early development stages of costal dune fields in the presence of vegetation. The model, which consists of a set of coupled equations for the turbulent wind field over the landscape, the saltation flux and the growth of vegetat...

In this work, we present measurements of the height profile, wind velocity and sand flux performed on transverse dunes in the dune field known as “Lençóis Maranhenses”, northeastern Brazil. From the measured profile, we selected one dune to measure the air shear stress and the sand flux and compared the results with the theoretical predictions from a dune model in two dimensions recently introd...

Running performance depends on a mechanical interaction between the feet of an animal and the substrate. This interaction may differ between two species of sand lizard from the Mojave Desert that have different locomotor morphologies and habitat distributions. Uma scorparia possesses toe fringes and inhabits dunes, whereas the closely related Callisaurus draconoides lacks fringes and is found o...