hierarchies and spatial scale in process geomorphology a review abstract the form and functioning of a geomorphic system is the end product of a set of interacting processes which operate at a large variety of spatial and temporal scales an appreciation of the nested hierarchical structure of geomorphic systems offers insight into the effect of scale in process geomorphology a literature review led to the formulation of a series of propositions concerning the spatial scale problem in process geomorphology these propositions are presented in a theoretical framework indicating their association central to the spatial scale problem in process geomorphology is that a geomorphic system must be viewed in its complex hierarchicl context every geomorphic system consists of an array of ever smaller lower level systems and is at the same time part of a sequence of ever larger higher level system in a geomorphic system there exists a similarity between the scales of process and form furthermore within a geomorphic system there is a similarity between spatial and temporal scales so that the timespan to present system behaviour and morphology increases with system size in a geomorphic system differences occur in the sensitivity of morphology to changing process conditions depending on the time elapsed since a change in process conditions morphology in a geomorphic system may be either polygenetic when only partial adjustment of the morphology i e only at smaller scales has occurred or characteristic of the process domain when all aspects of morphology i e at all scales are adjusted to present process conditions in the latter case dominance of landscape evolution by high frequency low magnitude process results in a smooth landscape having small scale irregularities whereas dominance by low frequency high magnitude processes produces an irregular landscape having large scale irregularities when spatial scale is held constant the model of evolution of a geomorphic system varies with the timescale of interest conversely when temporal scale is held constant the model of evolution varies with the spatial scale of interest in both cases the canon fixed rules and options of a geomorphic system vary with the scale temporal or spatial of interest the linkages between spatial and temporal scale and between the scales of form and process of geomorphic systems lead to four additional points first whether or not an event is catastrophic depends on the hierarchical level of the geomorphic system second because of increased travel time and a larger variety of possible pathways differences between the temporal patterns and material properties of input and output increase with the hiirarchical level and scale of a geomorphic system third frequent small scale processes may cause infrequent large scale events when viewed at the same hierarchical level fourth and last differences between geomorphic systems at the same level are controlled by variables varying over distances equal to or smaller than the distance between the system but equal to or larger than the spatial dimensions of the systems

sensitivity of post hurricane beach and dune recovery to event frequency the recovery of santa rosa island in northwest florida is characterized following hurricane katrina september 2005 which was preceded by hurricanes ivan 2004 and dennis 2005 beach and dune recovery were quantified to the east and west of pensacola beach through a comparison of lidar data collected immediately following hurricane katrina and in july 2006 after almost a year of recovery east of pensacola beach the santa rosa unit the shoreline retreated by an average of 64 m during the 2004 2005 hurricane season and recovered by an average of 19 m to the west of pensacola beach the fort pickens unit the shoreline retreated by an average of 30 m and while no significant shoreface recovery was observed the presence of vegetation on low profile dunes promoted backshore accretion it is found that beachface recovery in the santa rosa unit and backshore accretion in the fort pickens unit occurred at the widest sections of the island where the pre storm profile volume had been relatively large and overwash penetration was at a minimum the narrow sections of the island between cuspate headlands had a smaller profile volume before the storms leading to greater overwash penetration and in some cases island breaching in both sections which limited the volume of sediment available for shoreface recovery the alongshore variation in recovery is not only related to the island width but also the offshore bathymetry height of the pre storm dunes and the overwash penetration if sufficient time is allowed for the return of vegetation and the recovery of the dunes the variations in storm impact observed during hurricane ivan will be reinforced during subsequent storms in this respect the level of impact during subsequent storms and the ability of the island to recover will depend on the frequency of storm events copyright 2009 john wiley sons ltd

post storm beach and dune recovery implications for barrier island resilience abstract the ability of beaches and dunes to recover following an extreme storm is a primary control of barrier island response to sea level rise and changes in the frequency and or magnitude of storm surges whereas erosion of the beach and dune occurs over hours and days it can be years to decades before the beach and dune are able to recover to their pre storm state as a consequence there are numerous descriptions of near instantaneous beach and dune erosion due to storms the immediate onshore transport of sand and the initial phases of beach and dune recovery following a storm but a paucity of data on long term beach and dune recovery a combination of previously published data from galveston island texas and new remotely sensed data from santa rosa island florida is used in the present study to quantify the rate of dune recovery for dissipative and intermediate beach types respectively recovery of the dune height and volume on galveston island was observed within two years following hurricane alicia 1983 and was largely complete within six years of the storm despite extensive washover in contrast the dunes on santa rosa island in northwest florida began to recover four years after hurricane ivan 2004 and only after the profile approached its pre storm level and the rate of vegetation recovery regrowth was at a maximum results show that complete recovery of the largest dunes in height and volume will take approximately 10 years on santa rosa island which suggests that these sections of the island are particularly vulnerable to significant change in island morphology if there is also a change in the frequency and magnitude of storm events in contrast the areas of the island with the smallest dunes before hurricane ivan exhibited a rapid recovery but no further growth in profile volume and dune height beyond the pre storm volume and height despite continued recovery of the largest dunes to their pre storm height a change in storm magnitude and or frequency is a potential threat to barrier island resilience particularly for those sections of the island where dune recovery has historically taken the longest time further study is required to determine how and why dune recovery varies for the dissipative and intermediate beaches of galveston island and santa rosa island respectively

recent stabilization of active sand dunes on the canadian prairies and relation to recent climate variations the historical activity of sand dunes on the southern canadian prairies was investigated in order to determine the relation with recent climate variations changes in dune activity were determined from historical aerial photographs at seven sites with active parabolic dunes in saskatchewan and manitoba the methodology developed combines digital image processing and geographical information system gis analysis to measure changes in dune activity from the aerial photographs as well as correlation analysis to determine the relation between dune activity and climate variations overall dune activity has been decreasing since the early to mid 1900s as evidenced by greater vegetation colonization than sand dune migration or reactivation the decrease in dune activity is significantly correlated with decadal scale variations in aridity and is coincident with a decrease in annual wind speed evidence suggests that this response is superimposed on a longer trend towards stabilization possibly in place since the late 1700s taken together the effect of this complex response is that dune recovery on the southern canadian prairies is prolonged well after an initial disturbance and therefore gives the impression of anomalous levels of activity for extended periods thereafter for this reason dune mobility indices predicated on short term climate variations years to decades do not fully describe the present level of dune activity on the southern canadian prairies

aeolian system responses to global change challenges of scale process and temporal integration aeolian sediment systems are extensive components of the earth s surface not just in today s active desert environments but in coastal locations and as presently stable loess and peri desert ergs all these systems are subject to potentially significant 21st century changes in dynamics due to global warming impacts on atmospheric circulation sediment moisture and vegetation cover but do we know enough in the critical areas of science to allow robust models of likely future dynamics to be developed since the establishment of modern aeolian science research has largely taken two divergent routes 1 small scale investigations of the processes of wind shear sediment entrainment and transportation and 2 landform and landscape analyses with bedform systems described and relationships to circulation explained an intermediate sedimentological route has generated attempts towards a more integrated understanding of system behaviour at a range of scales four recent developments provide the potential for more robust multiscale integrations of aeolian system behaviour these are 1 advances in empirical measurement that allow wind power and sediment flux relations to be better described 2 modelling of dune and dust dynamics and interactions with key controls 3 monitoring systems that allow high resolution observations of sediment flux variations to be recognized and aeolian deposit structures to be understood and 4 chronometric advances that permit the assessment of the frequency and drivers of dune system activity in the past we explore and analyse these methodological advances and their potential contribution to the multiscale integrations that are essential for better informed predictions of future global aeolian system dynamics considering whether the integration of these advances in reductionist and holistic elements of aeolian science represent an example of the effective application of the principles of earth system science copyright 2008 john wiley sons ltd

biogeomorphic model of dunefield activation and stabilization on the northern great plains abstract a conceptual model is proposed for the activity of sand dune systems on the northern great plains that incorporates vegetation growth theory and geomorphic system theory dunefield activity is modeled as a cyclic phenomenon alternating between active and stable states with the latter as the system state attractor the model is divided into two constituent parts an activation model and a stabilization model the activation model is qualitative and describes the transition from stable to active dunes as the result of a climatic perturbation such as drought that decreases vegetation cover the intensity and duration of the climatic perturbation determines the rate of decline of vegetation cover the stabilization model is quantitative and describes the transition from active to stable dunes using a logistic model of vegetation growth small perturbations during stabilization can prolong the duration of recovery enabling dunes to remain active well after the initial perturbation despite the geographic focus of this study the model appears applicable to a variety of environments where dune activity is limited in part by vegetation cover

spectral signatures of characteristic spatial scales and nonfractal structure in landscapes 1 landscapes are sometimes argued to be scale invariant or random surfaces yet qualitative observations suggest that they contain characteristic spatial scales we quantitatively investigate the existence of characteristic landscape scales by analyzing two dimensional fourier power spectra derived from high resolution topographic maps of two landscapes in california in both cases we find that spectral power declines sharply above a frequency that corresponds roughly to hillslope length implying that the landscape is relatively smooth at finer scales the spectra also show that both landscapes contain quasiperiodic ridge and valley structures and we derive a robust measure of the ridge valley wavelength by comparing the spectra with the statistical properties of spectra derived from randomly generated topography we show that such uniform valley spacing is unlikely to occur in a random surface we describe several potential applications of spectral analysis in geomorphology beyond the identification of characteristic spatial scales including a filtering technique that can be used to measure topographic attributes such as local relief at specific scales or in specific orientations

deconstructing a polygenetic landscape using lidar and multi resolution analysis abstract it is difficult to deconstruct a complex polygenetic landscape into distinct process form regimes using digital elevation models dems and fundamental land surface parameters this study describes a multi resolution analysis approach for extracting geomorphological information from a lidar derived dem over a stabilized aeolian landscape in south texas that exhibits distinct process form regimes associated with different stages in landscape evolution multi resolution analysis was used to generate average altitudes using a gaussian filter with a maximum radius of 1 km at 20 m intervals resulting in 50 generated dems this multi resolution dataset was analyzed using principal components analysis pca to identify the dominant variance structure in the dataset the first 4 principal components pc account for 99 9 of the variation and classification of the variance structure reveals distinct multi scale topographic variation associated with different process form regimes and evolutionary stages our results suggest that this approach can be used to generate quantitatively rigorous morphometric maps to guide field based sedimentological and geophysical investigations which tend to use purposive sampling techniques resulting in bias and error

hf nd isotope evidence for a transient dynamic regime in the early terrestrial mantle modern basalts have seemingly lost all memory of the primitive earth s mantle except for an ambiguous isotopic signal observed in some rare gases1 2 although the earth is expected to have reached a thermal steady state within several hundred million years refs 3 4 of accretion it is not known how and when the initial chemical fractionations left over from planetary accretion and perhaps a stage involving a magma ocean were overshadowed by fractionations imposed by modern style geodynamics because of the lack of samples older than 4 gyr this early dynamic regime of the earth is poorly understood here we compare published hf nd isotope data on supracrustals from isua greenland with similar data on lunar rocks and the snc martian meteorites and show that about 3 8 gyr ago the geochemical signature of the archaean mantle was partly inherited from the initial differentiation of the earth the observed features seem to indicate that the planet at that time was still losing a substantial amount of primordial heat the survival of remnants from an early layering in the modern deep mantle may account for some unexplained seismological thermal and geochemical characteristics of the earth as observed today

a 10 000 year record of dune activity dust storms and severe drought in the central great plains dune fi elds and loess deposits of the great plains of north america contain stratigraphic records of eolian activity that can be used to extend the short observational record of drought we present a 10 000 yr reconstruction of dune activity and dust production in the central great plains region based on 95 optically stimulated luminescence ages the integration of data from both eolian sand and loess is an important new aspect of this record clusters of ages defi ne episodes of extensive eolian activity which we interpret as a response to frequent severe drought at 1 0 0 7 ka and 2 3 4 5 ka with peaks centered on 2 5 and 3 8 ka sustained eolian activity occurred from 9 6 to 6 5 ka parts of this record may be consistent with hypotheses linking holocene drought to sea surface temperature anomalies in the pacifi c or atlantic oceans or to the el nino southern oscillation phenomenon but the record as a whole is diffi cult to reconcile with any of these hypotheses

automated landslide mapping using spectral analysis and high resolution topographic data puget sound lowlands washington and portland hills oregon abstract landslide inventory maps are necessary for assessing landslide hazards and addressing the role slope stability plays in landscape evolution over geologic timescales however landslide inventory maps produced with traditional methods aerial photograph interpretation topographic map analysis and field inspection are often subjective and incomplete the increasing availability of high resolution topographic data acquired via airborne light detection and ranging lidar over broad swaths of terrain invites new automated landslide mapping procedures we present two methods of spectral analysis that utilize lidar derived digital elevation models of the puget sound lowlands washington and the tualatin mountains oregon to quantify and automatically map the topographic signatures of deep seated landslides power spectra produced using the two dimensional discrete fourier transform and the two dimensional continuous wavelet transform identify the characteristic spatial frequencies of deep seated landslide morphologic features such as hummocky topography scarps and displaced blocks of material spatial patterns in the amount of spectral power concentrated in these characteristic frequency bands highlight past slope instabilities and allow the delineation of landslide terrain when calibrated by comparison with detailed independently compiled landslide inventory maps our algorithms correctly classify an average of 82 of the terrain in our five study areas spectral analysis also allows the creation of dominant wavelength maps which prove useful in analyzing meter scale topographic expressions of landslide mechanics past landslide activity and landslide modifying geomorphic processes these results suggest that our automated landslide mapping methods can create accurate landslide maps and serve as effective objective and efficient tools for digital terrain analysis

organic biomarkers to describe the major carbon inputs and cycling of organic matter in the central great barrier reef region abstract controversy surrounds the sources and transport of land derived pollutants in the great barrier reef ecosystem because there is insufficient knowledge of the mechanism of movement of organic contaminants and the cycling of organic matter in this dynamic system thus a sediment and sediment trap study was used to describe the composition of resuspended and surface sediments in the south central great barrier reef and its lagoon this region is characterised by strong tides 6 8 m at mackay and trade winds regularly about 15 20 knots a series of organic biomarkers detailed the cyclical processes of sediment resuspension recolonising with marine algae and bacteria packaging into zooplankton faecal pellets and resettlement to sediments where the organics undergo further diagenesis with each cycle the inshore sediments are diluted with caco3 reef sediments and moved further offshore with the strong ebb tide currents this results in transport of land derived materials offshore and little storage of organic materials in the lagoon or reef sediments these processes were detailed by inorganic measurements such as caco3 and al ca ratios and by the compositions of hydrocarbon sterol alcohol and fatty acid lipid fractions persistent contaminants such as coal dust from a coastal loading facility can be detected in high concentration inshore and decreasing out to the shelf break at 180 m approximately 40 nautical miles offshore the normal processes would likely be amplified during cyclonic and other storms the lipids show the sources of carbon to include diatoms and other phytoplankton creanaerchaeota sulfate reducing and other bacteria land plants including mangrove leaves plus coal dust and other petroleum contaminants

controls on coastal dune morphology shoreline erosion and barrier island response to extreme storms abstract the response of a barrier island to an extreme storm depends in part on the surge elevation relative to the height and extent of the foredunes which can exhibit considerable variability alongshore while it is recognized that alongshore variations in dune height and width direct barrier island response to storm surge the underlying causes of the alongshore variation remain poorly understood this study examines the alongshore variation in dune morphology along a 11 km stretch of santa rosa island in northwest florida and relates the variation in morphology to the response of the island during hurricane ivan and historic and storm related rates of shoreline erosion the morphology of the foredune and backbarrier dunes was characterized before and after hurricane ivan using empirical orthogonal function eof analysis and related through canonical correlation analysis cca the height and extent of the foredune and the presence and relative location of the backbarrier dunes varied alongshore at discrete length scales of 750 1450 and 4550 m that are statistically significant at the 95 confidence level cospectral analysis suggests that the variation in dune morphology is correlated with transverse ridges on the inner shelf the backbarrier cuspate headlands and the historical and storm related trends in shoreline change sections of the coast with little to no dune development before hurricane ivan were observed in the narrowest portions of the island between headlands west of the transverse ridges overwash penetration tended to be larger in these areas and island breaching was common leaving the surface close to the watertable and covered by a lag of shell and gravel in contrast large foredunes and the backbarrier dunes were observed at the widest sections of the island the cuspate headlands and at crest of the transverse ridges due to the large dunes and the presence of the backbarrier dunes these areas experienced less overwash penetration and most of the sediment from the beachface and dunes was deposited within the upper shoreface it is argued that this sediment is returned to the beachface through nearshore bar migration following the storm and that the areas with larger foredunes and backbarrier dunes have smaller rates of historical shoreline erosion compared to areas with smaller dunes and greater transfer of sediment to the washover terrace since the recovery of the dunes will vary depending on the availability of sediment from the washover and beachface it is further argued that the alongshore pattern of dune morphology and the response of the island to the next extreme storm is forced by the transverse ridges and island width through alongshore variations in storm surge and overwash gradients respectively these findings may be particularly important for coastal managers involved in the repair and rebuilding of coastal infrastructure that was damaged or destroyed during hurricane ivan

dune mobility and aridity at the desert margin of northern china at a time of peak monsoon strength wind blown sands were mobile at many sites along the desert margin in northern china during the early holocene 11 5 8 ka ago based on extensive new numerical dating this mobility implies low effective moisture at the desert margin in contrast to growing evidence for greater than modern monsoon precipitation at the same time in central and southern china dry conditions in the early holocene at the desert margin can be explained through a dynamic link between enhanced diabatic heating in the core region of the strengthened monsoon and increased subsidence in drylands to the north combined with high evapotranspiration rates due to high summer temperatures after 8 ka ago as the monsoon weakened and lower temperatures reduced evapotranspiration eolian sands were stabilized by vegetation aridity and dune mobility at the desert margin and a strengthened monsoon can both be explained as responses to high summer insolation in the early holocene

principal component spectral analysis spectral decomposition methods help illuminate lateral changes in porosity and thin bed thickness for broadband data an interpreter might generate 80 or more somewhat redundant amplitude and phase spectral components spanning the usable seismic bandwidth at 1 hz intervals large numbers of components can overload not only the interpreter but also the display hardware we have used principal component analysis to reduce the multiplicity of spectral data and enhance the most energetic trends inside the data each principal component spectrum is mathematically orthogonal to other spectra with the importance of each spectrum being proportional to the size of its corresponding eigenvalue principal components are ideally suited to identify geologic features that give rise to anomalous moderate to high amplitude spectra unlike the input spectral magnitude and phase components the principal component spectra are not direct indicators of bed thickness by combining the variability of multiple components principal component spectra highlight stratigraphic features that can be interpreted using a seismic geomorphology workflow by mapping the three largest principal components using the three primary colors of red green and blue we could represent more than 80 of the spectral variance with a single image we have applied and validated this workflow using a broadband data volume containing channels draining an unconformity which was acquired over the central basin platform texas u s a principal component analysis reveals a channel system with only a few output data volumes the same process provides the interpreter with flexibility to remove any unwanted high amplitude geologic trends or random noise from the original spectral components by eliminating those principal components that do not aid in delineation of prospective features with their interpretation during the reconstruction process

middle holocene drought on the southern high plains abstract the climate of the southern high plains during the middle holocene is indicated by data from a variety of sources stratigraphic geomorphic and pedologic research at six localities in draws several dune sites and one playa lake basin show that widespread eolian erosion and sedimentation began in some areas by 9000 yr b p and culminated 6000 4500 yr b p probably because of warmer drier conditions that reduced the vegetative cover archaeological investigations at three sites provide evidence for the excavation of wells at this time apparently because of a declining water table studies of a few vertebrate and invertebrate faunas also indicate warming and drying in the middle holocene climate models and very limited isotopic data from bison bone suggest that summers in the middle holocene were warmer than present with reduced effective precipitation all lines of evidence indicate that the southern high plains was subjected to prolonged drought in the middle holocene with a maximum between 6500 and 4500 yr b p conforming climatically and chronologically to the altithermal

late holocene aeolian activity in the cimarron river valley of west central oklahoma abstract this investigation uses a multidisciplinary approach including geomorphic surface mapping soil stratigraphic analysis radiocarbon dating and optically stimulated luminescence osl dating to investigate the chronology of soil formation and aeolian activation periods recorded in ridge dune deposits as well as the spatial variability of aeolian processes during active aeolian episodes this study shows that aeolian landforms superimposed on fluvial terraces adjacent to the cimarron river in southeastern major county and northwestern kingfisher county oklahoma are the product of distinct late holocene climatic conditions in which periods of dune activity are episodic and accumulation of sediments is relatively rapid soil forming processes operated on the stabilized dunes during intervening periods we also demonstrate that the synthesis of geomorphic techniques soil stratigraphy 14c dating and osl dating can provide complimentary and high resolution data about aeolian activity in the southern plains

late holocene dune migration on the south texas sand sheet abstract there are a wide variety of vegetated eolian depositional landforms associated with the south texas sand sheet attesting to the past dominance of eolian processes mapping identified two sets of parabolic dunes elongating with winds from the southeast and the northwest parabolic dunes elongated by northwesterly winds are older than ca 200 years and may be associated with eolian depositional events ca 2700 and or 2000 years ago the latest dune migration event associated with southeasterly winds occurred ca 200 years ago and at one site is inset into northwesterly extended parabolic dunes this period of dune migration may be coincident with particularly severe drought identified in the tree ring record centered at ad 1790 when the palmer drought severity index was 4 a threshold of dune movement may have occurred ca in the 11th 15th and 20th centuries when there are two or more consecutive years with a palmer drought severity index of

ecogeomorphic state variables and phase space construction for quantifying the evolution of vegetated aeolian landscapes cellular automaton modelling for the simulation of dune field formation and evolution has developed progressively in aeolian geomorphology in the last decade or so a model that incorporates the effects of vegetation and its interactions with geomorphic landscape development the discrete ecogeomorphic aeolian landscapes decal model can replicate a number of important visual and qualitative aspects of the complex evolution of aeolian dune landscapes under the influence of vegetation dynamics in coastal environments a key challenge in this research area is the analysis and comparison of both simulated and real world vegetated dune landscapes using objective and quantifiable principles this study presents a methodological framework or protocol for numerically quantifying various ecogeomorphic attributes using a suite of mathematically defined landscape metrics to provide a rigorous and statistical evaluation of vegetated dune field evolution within this framework the model parameter space can be systematically explored and simulation outcomes can be methodically compared against real world landscapes based on a simplified scenario of parabolic dunes developing out of blow outs the resulting dune field realizations are investigated as a function of variable growth vigour of two simulated vegetation types pioneer grass and successional woody shrub by establishing a typological phase diagram of different landscape classes the set of simulation outcomes furthermore defines a higher dimensional phase space whose axes or dimensions can be interpreted by analysing how individual ecogeomorphic landscape metrics or state variables contribute to the data distribution principal component analysis can reduce this to a visual three dimensional 3d phase space where landscape evolution can be plotted as time trajectories and where we can investigate the effects of changing environmental conditions partway through a simulation scenario the use of landscape state variables and the construction of a 3d phase space presented here may provide a general template for quantifying many other eco geomorphic systems on the earth s surface

stratigraphic evidence of desertification in the west central great plains within the past 1000 yr stratigraphic and geomorphic relations archeological data and eight radiocarbon ages at five widely scattered localities in northeastern colorado indicate that eolian sand was mobilized over broad areas within the past 1000 yr the mobilization began after 1 ka was episodic and ended at some as yet undetermined time prior to the latter part of the nineteenth century given that climate model simulations suggest only slight variation in average surface temperature and annual precipitation in this region during the past 1000 yr this part of the great plains evidently is near the threshold of widespread eolian sand transport under the present climate

understanding linear dune chronologies insights from a simple accumulation model abstract dunefields are today often found in regions where environmental conditions are no longer conducive to widespread aeolian transport and deposition and are thus seen as potential archives of palaeoenvironmental information some dune types are more suitable for this purpose than others and linear dunes used here synonymously with longitudinal dunes have been most frequently employed they are commonly found in dryland and dryland marginal regions and they are apparently less migratory than some other dune forms thereby offering the potential for longer environmental histories most recent studies have employed optical osl dating surveys which directly date the emplacement of dune sands to attempt to produce a representative history of aeolian accumulation at a dunefield scale yet such studies have not always given due consideration to the geomorphology of linear dune accumulation although linear dunes do not rework their sand as readily as say barchans dunes it is clear that sand deposited during an aeolian event is likely to have been removed from elsewhere on the dunefield s surface for this reason all dune archives must be assumed to be discontinuous over long timescales the effect of sediment redistribution on dune preservation and thus palaeoenvironmental interpretation is difficult to observe and poorly understood we present a simplified probabilistic model to replicate deposition erosion of sand at a linear dune crest thus simulating the type of profile sampled in many field studies in order to produce a local accumulation history the modelled sand flux incorporates various feedbacks and the simulations are run with varying boundary conditions in which the simulated surface is assumed to be in equilibrium over the multi millennial timescales of the model s duration periodic instabilities in the landscape are generally well recorded by the modelled dune accumulation history particularly when the events involve the system as a whole briefly functioning out of an equilibrium state i e the probabilities of deposition and reworking are not equal however under forcing conditions where the probabilities are unchanged throughout the duration of the model run the results can show apparent structure within the data when sample sizes are low although at large sample sizes the preservation potential decays with burial age according to a power law the model confirms the importance of rigorous sampling strategies for such studies but also suggests that if such precautions are taken the reworking inherent to linear dune aeolian systems does not preclude their use as a quaternary palaeoenvironmental archive of environmental change

large wind shift on the great plains during the medieval warm period spring summer winds from the south move moist air from the gulf of mexico to the great plains rainfall in the growing season sustains prairie grasses that keep large dunes in the nebraska sand hills immobile longitudinal dunes built during the medieval warm period 800 to 1000 years before the present record the last major period of sand mobility these dunes are oriented nw se and are composed of cross strata with bipolar dip directions the trend and structure of the dunes record a drought that was initiated and sustained by a historically unprecedented shift of spring summer atmospheric circulation over the plains moist southerly flow was replaced by dry southwesterly flow

evidence of active dune sand on the great plains in the 19th century from accounts of early explorers eolian sand is extensive over the great plains of north america but is at present mostly stabilized by vegetation accounts published by early explorers however indicate that at least parts of dune fields in nebraska colorado kansas new mexico and texas were active in the 19th century based on an index of dune mobility and a regional tree ring record the probable causes for these periods of greater eolian activity are droughts accompanied by higher temperatures which greatly lowered the precipitation to evapotranspiration ratio and diminished the cover of stabilizing vegetation in addition observations by several explorers and previous historical studies indicate that rivers upwind of great plains dune fields had shallow braided sandy channels as well as intermittent flow in the 19th century wide braided sandy rivers that were frequently dry would have increased sand supplies to active dune fields we conclude that dune fields in the great plains are extremely sensitive to climate change and that the potential for reactivation of stabilized dunes in the future is high with or without greenhouse warming

late holocene dune activity linked to hydrological drought nebraska sand hills usa dunee elds of the great plains contain stratigraphic records of episodic holocene aeolian activity potentially providing a valuable record of climatic change it has been dife cult to establish unambiguous links between activity at specie c sites and regional palaeoclimate however here we demonstrate that widespread late holocene aeolian activity in the nebraska sand hills the largest dunee eld on the great plains of north america occurred during a period of hydrological drought aeolian sand sheets are interbedded with peat that accumulated in interdunes throughout much of the holocene the youngest of these sand sheets was deposited between 950 and 650 cal bp about the same time as the most recent major episode of aeolian activity at upland sites up to 120 km apart sand sheets could only have advanced across the interdunes if the local groundwater e ow systems that maintain interdune wetlands were temporarily reduced or eliminated by a reduction in recharge both reduced recharge and upland aeolian activity are best explained by regional megadrought

short term changes in the morphodynamic states of beaches and surf zones an empirical predictive model a time series of 6 5 years of daily observations of beach states and wave characteristics from southeastern australia was analyzed with the aim of determining the degree to which time varying beach state can be explained and predicted the six commonly occurring beach states dissipative longshore bar trough rhythmic bar and beach transverse bar and rip low tide terrace and reflective discussed earlier were related by means of discrete discriminant analyses to the parameter hb wst where hb is breaker height ws is the fall velocity of the beach sand and t is peak breaker period using a total of 1545 cases two values were used in the analyses the immediate value occurring on the day the particular state was observed and a weighted mean value expressing recently antecedent conditions the immediate value made a negligible contribution to explaining day to day beach state observations however the antecedent conditions showed a strong relationship and provide a successful means of prediction by examining cases where the time derivatives of both state and were near zero it was possible to define the equilibrium conditions associated with each state directions of change erosional or accretionary are predicted in terms of departures of from the equilibrium value appropriate to the beach state prevailing at the time change begins