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The dune effect on sand-transporting winds on Mars

Wind on Mars is a significant agent of contemporary surface change, yet the absence of in situ meteorological data hampers the understanding of surface–atmospheric interactions. Airflow models at length scales relevant to landform size now enable examination of conditions that might activate even sm...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Jackson, Derek W. T., Bourke, Mary C, Smyth, Thomas A. G.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Pub. Group 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4667610/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26537669
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9796
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author Jackson, Derek W. T.
Bourke, Mary C
Smyth, Thomas A. G.
author_facet Jackson, Derek W. T.
Bourke, Mary C
Smyth, Thomas A. G.
author_sort Jackson, Derek W. T.
collection PubMed
description Wind on Mars is a significant agent of contemporary surface change, yet the absence of in situ meteorological data hampers the understanding of surface–atmospheric interactions. Airflow models at length scales relevant to landform size now enable examination of conditions that might activate even small-scale bedforms (ripples) under certain contemporary wind regimes. Ripples have the potential to be used as modern ‘wind vanes' on Mars. Here we use 3D airflow modelling to demonstrate that local dune topography exerts a strong influence on wind speed and direction and that ripple movement likely reflects steered wind direction for certain dune ridge shapes. The poor correlation of dune orientation with effective sand-transporting winds suggests that large dunes may not be mobile under modelled wind scenarios. This work highlights the need to first model winds at high resolution before inferring regional wind patterns from ripple movement or dune orientations on the surface of Mars today.
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spelling pubmed-46676102015-12-10 The dune effect on sand-transporting winds on Mars Jackson, Derek W. T. Bourke, Mary C Smyth, Thomas A. G. Nat Commun Article Wind on Mars is a significant agent of contemporary surface change, yet the absence of in situ meteorological data hampers the understanding of surface–atmospheric interactions. Airflow models at length scales relevant to landform size now enable examination of conditions that might activate even small-scale bedforms (ripples) under certain contemporary wind regimes. Ripples have the potential to be used as modern ‘wind vanes' on Mars. Here we use 3D airflow modelling to demonstrate that local dune topography exerts a strong influence on wind speed and direction and that ripple movement likely reflects steered wind direction for certain dune ridge shapes. The poor correlation of dune orientation with effective sand-transporting winds suggests that large dunes may not be mobile under modelled wind scenarios. This work highlights the need to first model winds at high resolution before inferring regional wind patterns from ripple movement or dune orientations on the surface of Mars today. Nature Pub. Group 2015-11-05 /pmc/articles/PMC4667610/ /pubmed/26537669 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9796 Text en Copyright © 2015, Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
spellingShingle Article
Jackson, Derek W. T.
Bourke, Mary C
Smyth, Thomas A. G.
The dune effect on sand-transporting winds on Mars
title The dune effect on sand-transporting winds on Mars
title_full The dune effect on sand-transporting winds on Mars
title_fullStr The dune effect on sand-transporting winds on Mars
title_full_unstemmed The dune effect on sand-transporting winds on Mars
title_short The dune effect on sand-transporting winds on Mars
title_sort dune effect on sand-transporting winds on mars
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4667610/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26537669
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9796
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