|
Longitudinal Dunes of the Tavan Har Crater, Southeastern Gobi, Mongolia Jonah Stinson Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA 99362 A number of longitudinal dunes up to 2km long are located along the southeastern rim of the Tavan Har Crater. Here, peaks of the eroded crater rim act like a snow fence to cause deposition of sand downwind of the crater, resulting in a series of dunes running subparallel to one another at N80W. This orientation is the area's prevailing wind direction, which is also indicated by the orientation of grooves in wind-abraded bedrock on the crater rim. Although dominant wind directions are from the west, other winds from the north and south change the steepest slip face from side to side and 'wag the tails' of the longitudinal dunes. Satellite imagery reveals large areas of unconsolidated sediment to the northwest that is the probable source area for these dunes. |
|
Questions or comments?
|