Dunes and Fossil Soils

Dunes and Fossil Soils PDF Author: Wolfgang Schirmer
Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster
ISBN: 9783825846060
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
Dunes grow, change their shape and fade away. This book demonstrates that the evolution of eolian sand and dunes is under control of climatic change, permafrost, vegetational growth, soil formation and human interference. The European sand belt spreads from the Netherlands through Germany and Poland into Russia as inland dune fields up to a hight of several meters as well as large carpets of thin eolian sand, the so-called coversand. This book illuminates the origin of this enormous sand masses from their first traces during the Saalian glaciation through the Weichselian glaciation up to present times. Periods of strong eolian activity change with periods of dune stability. The interior of the dunes exhibits striking interruptions of eolian activity by a large variety of fossil soils. The individual character of these soils allows to interprete the eolian sand movements period by period through the history of the last 150.000 years. All in all the book offers details of modern research on dune sand as well as comprehensive chapters of the recent state of knowledge on dune formation.

Dunes and Fossil Soils

Dunes and Fossil Soils PDF Author: Wolfgang Schirmer
Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster
ISBN: 9783825846060
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 206

Get Book Here

Book Description
Dunes grow, change their shape and fade away. This book demonstrates that the evolution of eolian sand and dunes is under control of climatic change, permafrost, vegetational growth, soil formation and human interference. The European sand belt spreads from the Netherlands through Germany and Poland into Russia as inland dune fields up to a hight of several meters as well as large carpets of thin eolian sand, the so-called coversand. This book illuminates the origin of this enormous sand masses from their first traces during the Saalian glaciation through the Weichselian glaciation up to present times. Periods of strong eolian activity change with periods of dune stability. The interior of the dunes exhibits striking interruptions of eolian activity by a large variety of fossil soils. The individual character of these soils allows to interprete the eolian sand movements period by period through the history of the last 150.000 years. All in all the book offers details of modern research on dune sand as well as comprehensive chapters of the recent state of knowledge on dune formation.

Climate Change in Deserts

Climate Change in Deserts PDF Author: Martin Williams
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107016916
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 653

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Book Description
A synthesis of the environmental and climatic history of every major desert and desert margin, for researchers and advanced students.

Aeolian Sand and Sand Dunes

Aeolian Sand and Sand Dunes PDF Author:
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540859101
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 465

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Book Description
It is more than half a century since the publication of R. A. Bagnold’s classic book The physics of blown sand and desert dunes, and it is a tribute to the quality of Bagnold’s work that many of the fundamental principles which he developed - main valid today. His book continues to be essential reading for any serious s- dent of aeolian processes. However, the past two decades have seen an explosion in the scale of research dealing with aeolian transport processes, sediments, and landforms. Some of this work has been summarized in review papers and edited conference proceedings, but this book provides the rst attempt to review the whole eld of aeolian sand research. Inevitably, it has not been possible to cover all - pects in equal depth, and the balance of included material naturally re ects the - thors’ own interests to a signi cant degree. However, our aim has been to provide as broad a perspective as possible, and to provide an entry point to an extensive mul- disciplinary scienti c literature, some of which has not been given the attention it deserves in earlier textbooks and review papers. Many examples are drawn from existing published work, but the book also makes extensive use of our own research in the Middle East, Australia, Europe, and North America. The book has been written principally for use by advanced undergraduates, po- graduates, and more senior research workers in geomorphology and sedimentology.

Sandstone Diagenesis

Sandstone Diagenesis PDF Author: Stuart Burley
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444304461
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 656

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Book Description
Diagenesis affects all sediments after their deposition andincludes a fundamental suite of physical, chemical and biologicalprocesses that control the texture, mineralogy and fluid-flowproperties of sedimentary rocks. Understanding the processes andproducts of diagenesis is thus a critical component in the analysisof the evolution of sedimentary basins, and has practicalimplications for subsurface porosity destruction, preservation andgeneration. This in turn is of great relevance to the petroleum andwater industries, as well as to the location and nature of someeconomic mineral deposits. Combines key papers in sandstone diagenesis published inSedimentology over the last 30 years. Records the development of diagenesis from the description ofgrain shapes through provenance, petrography and analyticalgeochemistry to predictive models of diagenetic process. Provides definitions and explanations of the terms and conceptsused in diagenesis. If you are a member of the International Association ofSedimentologists, for purchasing details, please see:http://www.iasnet.org/publications/details.asp?code=RP4

The Nile Basin

The Nile Basin PDF Author: Martin Williams
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316832791
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 425

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Book Description
The Nile Basin contains a record of human activities spanning the last million years. However, the interactions between prehistoric humans and environmental changes in this area are complex and often poorly understood. This comprehensive book explains in clear, non-technical terms how prehistoric environments can be reconstructed, with examples drawn from every part of the Nile Basin. Adopting a source-to-sink approach, the book integrates events in the Nile headwaters with the record from marine sediment cores in the Nile Delta and offshore. It provides a detailed record of past environmental changes throughout the Nile Basin and concludes with a review of the causes and consequences of plant and animal domestication in this region and of the various prehistoric migrations out of Africa into Eurasia and beyond. A comprehensive overview, this book is ideal for researchers in geomorphology, climatology and archaeology.

When the Sahara Was Green

When the Sahara Was Green PDF Author: Martin Williams
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691253935
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
The little-known history of how the Sahara was transformed from a green and fertile land into the largest hot desert in the world The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world, equal in size to China or the United States. Yet, this arid expanse was once a verdant, pleasant land, fed by rivers and lakes. The Sahara sustained abundant plant and animal life, such as Nile perch, turtles, crocodiles, and hippos, and attracted prehistoric hunters and herders. What transformed this land of lakes into a sea of sands? When the Sahara Was Green describes the remarkable history of Earth’s greatest desert—including why its climate changed, the impact this had on human populations, and how scientists uncovered the evidence for these extraordinary events. From the Sahara’s origins as savanna woodland and grassland to its current arid incarnation, Martin Williams takes us on a vivid journey through time. He describes how the desert’s ancient rocks were first fashioned, how dinosaurs roamed freely across the land, and how it was later covered in tall trees. Along the way, Williams addresses many questions: Why was the Sahara previously much wetter, and will it be so again? Did humans contribute to its desertification? What was the impact of extreme climatic episodes—such as prolonged droughts—upon the Sahara’s geology, ecology, and inhabitants? Williams also shows how plants, animals, and humans have adapted to the Sahara and what lessons we might learn for living in harmony with the harshest, driest conditions in an ever-changing global environment. A valuable look at how an iconic region has changed over millions of years, When the Sahara Was Green reveals the desert’s surprising past to reflect on its present, as well as its possible future.

Climate Change in Deserts

Climate Change in Deserts PDF Author: Martin Williams
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 131606073X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 653

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Book Description
Reconstructing climatic changes in deserts and their margins at a variety of scales in space and time, this book draws upon evidence from land and sea, including desert dunes, wind-blown dust, river and lake sediments, glacial moraines, plant and animal fossils, isotope geochemistry, speleothems, soils, and prehistoric archaeology. The book summarises the Cenozoic evolution of the major deserts of the Americas, Eurasia, Africa and Australia, and the causes of historic floods and droughts. The book then considers the causes and consequences of desertification and proposes four key conditions for achieving ecologically sustainable use of natural resources in arid and semi-arid areas. Climate Change in Deserts is an invaluable reference for researchers and advanced students interested in the climate and geomorphology of deserts: geographers, geologists, ecologists, archaeologists, soil scientists, hydrologists, climatologists and natural resource managers.

A Study of Global Sand Seas

A Study of Global Sand Seas PDF Author: Edwin Dinwiddie McKee
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Sand
Languages : en
Pages : 450

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Book Description


The Ecological Relations of the Vegetation on the Sand Dunes of Lake Michigan

The Ecological Relations of the Vegetation on the Sand Dunes of Lake Michigan PDF Author: Henry Chandler Cowles
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Plant ecology
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description


Prehistoric Mammals

Prehistoric Mammals PDF Author: Kenneth McNamara
Publisher: Western Australian Museum
ISBN: 1920843604
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 112

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Book Description
In 1909 a rich accumulation of many thousands of bones was excavated from Mammoth Cave in Australia’s south-west. Many of the bones far exceeded in size any modern-day native mammal, evidence that in prehistoric times giant mammals had roamed the Australian bush. They included a marsupial the size of a buffalo, kangaroos more than two metres tall, wallabies much bigger than any living species, a marsupial ‘lion’ about the size of a leopard, giant echidnas and wombats, plus the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger). What did these animals look like and how did they live? And how did they become extinct in a relatively short period of time?