Nield, J.M., Bryant, R.G., Wiggs, G.F.S. et al. (4 more authors) (2014) The dynamism of salt crust patterns on playas. Geology, 43 (1). pp. 31-34. ISSN 0091-7613
Abstract
Playas are common in arid environments and can be major sources of mineral dust that can influence global climate. These landforms typically form crusts that limit evaporation and dust emission, modify surface erosivity and erodibility, and can lead to over prediction or underprediction of (1) dust-emission potential and (2) water and heat fluxes in energybalance modeling. Through terrestrial laser scanning measurements of part of the Makgadikgadi Pans of Botswana (a Southern Hemisphere playa that emits significant amounts of dust), we show that over weeks, months, and a year, the shapes of these surfaces change considerably (ridge thrusting of >30 mm/week) and can switch among continuous, ridged, and degraded patterns. Ridged pattern development changes the measured aerodynamic roughness of the surface (as much as 3 mm/week). The dynamic nature of these crusted surfaces must be accounted for in dust entrainment and moisture balance formulae to improve regional and global climate models.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2014 Geological Society of America. Gold Open Access: This paper is published under the terms of the CC-BY license. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Geography (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 23 Feb 2015 11:26 |
Last Modified: | 23 Feb 2015 11:26 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G36175.1 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Geological Society of America |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1130/G36175.1 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:83709 |