Abstract
Windblown sand produces distinctive bedforms at scales ranging from
normal sand ripples to large reversing sand dunes. We explore how
aeolian bedforms evolve at both extremes of this range. An investigation
of the transition from sand ripples (<1 cm height) to
granule-coated megaripples (25 cm height) is underway at Great Sand
Dunes National Park and Preserve (GSDNPP) in central Colorado.
Sand-to-megaripple transitions at GSDNPP were documented in May and Sept
of 2019 using stereophotogrammetry that produced digital terrain models
that resolved granule (1-2 mm) particles as well as some sand grains;
these data show the spatial distribution of particles across sand
ripples whose crests merge directly into crests of megaripples. To date
we have not observed that sand ripples are a necessary prerequisite for
the initiation and growth of megaripples; the spatial density of granule
particles appears to influence the evolution of megaripples. Reversing
sand dunes are being monitored using differential navigation satellite
system data at GSDNPP (up to 10 m height) and at Bruneau Dunes State
Park (BDSP) in central Idaho (individual dunes >100 m
height). Surveys of the crests of reversing dunes at GSDNPP reveal a
northeastward migration of individual dunes along the southern margin of
the main dune mass, consistent with dominant local winds, yet the
symmetric reversing dune profile is maintained during the translation.
Surveys of the crests of large reversing dunes at BDSP reveal variable
adjustments of the crests that may be affected by wind flow altered by
the bulk of the dunes themselves, sheltering the southern end of the
dunes from one of the seasonal bimodal winds. Results to date indicate
that the deformable shape of aeolian bedforms affect wind flow at all
spatial scales, influencing the evolution of the features over diverse
time scales.