Statistical comparisons of grain size characteristics, hydraulic conductivity, and porosity of barchan desert dunes to coastal dunes
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ArticleKAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) DivisionWater Desalination and Reuse Research Center (WDRC)
Date
2020-02-07Online Publication Date
2020-02-07Print Publication Date
2020-04Submitted Date
2019-07-03Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/661544
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Ancient dune sand environments in deserts and coasts are aquifers and hydrocarbon reservoirs that commonly have preserved high permeability (hydraulic conductivity). A paucity of research has been performed on variations in the distribution of permeability associated with the positions within the dunes and the differences between these patterns in desert and coastal dunes. A comparison of dune sand grain size and hydraulic properties of a desert barchan dune field in Saudi Arabia to a coastal dune field in Uruguay has revealed some important differences and similarities. The grain size characteristics show that the mean grain diameter was significantly lower in the barchan dune field compared to the coastal dune field (1.95–2.79 phi) and the sorting was better in the coastal dune field (0.40–0.66 phi). The skewness and kurtosis of the dune sands were not significantly different with the skewness <0.1 and the kurtosis near 1.0. No statistical differences based on dune position were found in the coastal dunes, but there were significant differences in position in the desert dunes. The porosity differed between the desert dunes and the coastal dunes with the mean values being 0.39 and 0.35 respectively. No significant porosity variation with dune position was found in either dune type. The coastal dunes had a significantly higher mean hydraulic conductivity of 25.3 m/d compared to the desert dunes of 9.32 m/d. The dune crests in the desert dunes had significantly higher hydraulic conductivity values compared to other locations in the dune profile.Citation
Lopez, O. M., Hegy, M. C., & Missimer, T. M. (2020). Statistical comparisons of grain size characteristics, hydraulic conductivity, and porosity of barchan desert dunes to coastal dunes. Aeolian Research, 43, 100576. doi:10.1016/j.aeolia.2020.100576Sponsors
The authors thank the Division of Biological Sciences, Water Desalination and Reuse Center at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology for funding of the research and use of equipment. We also thank the Emergent Technologies Institute at Florida Gulf Coast University for providing support services to the research. This publication is a contribution of the Emergent Technologies Institute at Florida Gulf Coast University which funded the research.Publisher
Elsevier BVJournal
Aeolian ResearchAdditional Links
https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1875963719301272ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.aeolia.2020.100576
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