Crescentic dune migration and stabilization: Implications for interpreting paleo-dune deposits as paleoenvironmental records

Zhiwei XU, A. MASON Joseph, Huayu LU, Shuangwen YI, Yali ZHOU, Jiang WU, Zhiyong HAN

Figure 1 Example of dune morphodynamics in the Mu Us dune field. Red triangles mark the dunes with ID labeled nearby. Yellow and red lines mark the positions of the dunes in 2010 and in 2002 respectively. The dunes were partially fixed by vegetation, but still migrating toward the southeast (lower right). Sands from the stoss toe and dune horns were stabilized in-situ, forming residual dune ridges (RDRs) and upwind trailing arms (Arms), while a major part of the dunes kept migrating forward. North is toward top. Image source: GoogleTM Earth. See Xu et al. (2015b) for site coordinates and more examples illustrating crescentic dune migration and stabilization.