Terrestrial laser scanning in the Namibia desert.
New study can give us new clues about Mars and their sand formations.
How do they form – and how do they disappear so suddenly – the smallest sand dunes on the planet, the ones we see on the beaches, for example?
Until recently, no one could answer this question, but a team of international researchers led by the University of Southampton seems to have reached a conclusion.
These “mini-dunes”-technically known as proto-heights-were unveiled with Top laser scanning technology For the team that had the collaboration of research institutes in France and universities of Oxford, Loughborough, Illinois and Denver, according to the study at PNAS, in the Namibia Desert.
Researchers studied the desert dunes in Namibia.
Earlier, we could explain the creation of large desert dunes in places like Sahara, where large amounts of soft, dry sand are continually moved by the wind. But the formation of smaller dunes on hard, compact or wet surfaces was a mystery.
The new investigation shows that the proto-heights form when the sand blown by the wind moves through firmer soil, jumping to one meter high before based.
“In these surfaces, The sand does not only roll through the earth, it jumps up to about one meter And therefore, there is a gradual transition when the grains feel the change from a consolidated surface to a wavy, ”explains Jo Nield of the University of Southampton, quoted by.
As sand begins to accumulate on softer and more wavy surfaces, small protrusions begin to form. These initial protrusions then influence local wind patterns, retaining more sand and accelerating dune growth – a process similar to what occurs in larger dunes.
“When protrusions begin to form, this influences wind patterns, adding more sand and helping the dune grow, as happens in the larger dunes,” says the teacher.
These field data will have been fundamental for the development of a new computer model, created by researchers in Paris, which accurately simulates how the proto-Dunes grow and suffer erosion.
The most interesting is possibly the fact that this study gives us new clues about….
Given that similar sand formations have already been observed on the red planet, findings can help scientists understand extraterrestrial landscapes. Comparing dune behavior on different planets can provide valuable information about their environmental conditions.
