Challenge the future

Delft
University of
Technology
M.E. Donselaar
Aeolian deposits

2
Sedimentary environments
Continental: fluvial (braided, meandering)
aeolian
lacustrine
Coastal: deltas
linear (clastic, carbonate)
Marine: shelf
deep marine sands
pelagic
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Outline
Introduction
Processes & morphology
Facies analysis
Reservoir example

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Aeolian deposits: Occurrence
Arid areas: absence to vegetation to fix sediment
Peri-glacial
Deserts
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Air circulation patterns and the
occurrence of desert areas - 1
Earth is encircled by wind belts
Belts separated by narrow
regions of ascending or
descending air
Direction and location
determined by:
Solar radiation
Rotation of the earth
http://www.newmediastudio.org/DataDiscovery/Hurr_ED_Center/Easterly_Waves/Trade_Winds/Trade_Winds.html
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Air circulation patterns and the
occurrence of desert areas - 2
Solar radiation greatest near
equator (tropical zone)
Air is warmed, rises and looses
moisture
Rising air creates low pressure zone
Air is drawn in from sub-tropical
zone
Air moves N and S and descends to
surface at 30
o

Descending air dry > desert areas


http://www.newmediastudio.org/DataDiscovery/Hurr_ED_Center/Easterly_Waves/Trade_Winds/Trade_Winds.html
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Additional reading
http://www.newmediastudio.org/DataDiscovery/Hurr_ED_C
enter/Easterly_Waves/Trade_Winds/Trade_Winds.html
Look up in Google under: Hadley cell
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Wind transport processes
Saltation: grain movement along sediment surface
Suspension: grains suspended in the air
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Wind transport 1: Saltation
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Wind transport 2: Saltation & suspension
Wind direction
Wind speed
Grain size:
Separation silt and clay
(suspension) and sand
(saltation)
Capillary forces
Movie from: weru.ksu.edu
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Subdivision deserts
Sand seas (ergs): draa fields
Dunes
Inter-dune areas:
- dry
- wet
River beds (wadi)
Sheet floods
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Dune types
Transverse dunes
Barchan ridges
Individual barchan dunes
Longitudinal (seif ) dunes (Nichols: linear dunes)
Star dunes
Parabolic dunes
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Relation dune types - available sediment
Decrease sediment: from transverse to barchan dunes


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Transverse dunes
Straight crest lines
Crest lines perpendicular to
wind direction
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Barchan dunes 1: Dune ridges
Curved crest lines
Dune tips in down-wind
direction
Less sand than transverse
dunes
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Barchan dunes 2: Isolated dunes
Curved crest lines
Dune tips in down-wind
direction
Sand volume low
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Barchan dunes 3: Example Morocco
250 m
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Longitudinal dunes - 1
Crest lines parallel to wind
Composite dunes
Can reach very large height
and length (see examples)
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Longitudinal dunes
5 km
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Longitudinal dunes: Composite dunes
5 km
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Star dunes - 1
Wind direction varies
Isolated high dunes
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Star dunes 2: Examples
1 km
1 km
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Parabolic dunes (blow-out dunes)
Wind erodes dune on windward
side
Dune tips point in windward
direction
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Sand transport in small-scale ripples
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Sand transport in dunes
grainfall foresets
grainflow foresets
windripples
reactivation surfaces
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Transport and sedimentation: Terminology
Wind direction
Foreset laminae
Slip face
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O
-34
O
Small-scale ripples
on dune surface
Topset beds: 4
O
-6
O
McKee (1966)
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Transport and sedimentation: Ripple
migration
interdune
area
wind direction
slipface
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Transport and sedimentation:
Avalanche foresets
Ripples migrate to brink point
and subsequently collapse:
Sand avalanches down dune
front
slipface
wind direction
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Aeolian links
Nice pictures
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/deserts/dunes/
http://photo.net/webtravel/great-trips/holes.html
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Sedimentary analysis
Geometry
Lithology
Sedimentary structures
Palaeo-current distribution
Fossils
Cores
Wireline logs
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Geometry dune deposits
Tabular geometry caused by fluctuating groundwater level
plus deflation

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Relation geometry groundwater level
Stokes (1968)
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Lithology dune deposits
Sand fraction:
- quartz sand
- volcanic sand
- gypsum
- biogenic limestone debris
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White Sands Nat'l Monument (N.M.)
Gypsum dunes
http://www.americansouthwest.net/new_mexico/white_sands/national_monument.html
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Dune deposits: Sedimentary structures
Large-scale avalanche foresets
Tangential (flatter) toesets
Alternating grainfall (fine) and
grainflow (coarse) laminae

Next slide
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Dune deposits
Palaeo-current distribution + logs
Selley (1985)
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Dune deposits:
Palaeo-current distribution
Selley (1985)
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Subdivision deserts
Sand seas (ergs)
Dunes
Inter-dune areas:
- dry
- wet
River beds (wadis)
Sheet floods
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Interdune types - 1
dune
wet interdune
dune
dune
dune
evaporite interdune
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Interdune types - 2
Permeability breaks
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Subdivision deserts
Sand seas (ergs)
Dunes
Inter-dune areas:
- dry
- wet
River beds (wadis)
Sheet floods
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River beds (wadis)
http://www.cameldive.com/sinai-desert-pictures.htm
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Wadi deposits
Imbrication
http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=4300469889777308905&q=wadi
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Aeolian reservoirs NW Europe
Age: Rotliegend (Early Permian)
Setting:
Wide E-W oriented area north of London-Brabant Massif
Bounded to the north by evaporite inland sea
Aeolian dunes and fluvial deposits

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Aeolian reservoirs - Palaeogeography
Verdier (1995)
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Aeolian reservoirs Lake expansion and
contraction
Verdier (1995)
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Aeolian reservoirs dune type distribution
Verdier (1995)
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Aeolian reservoirs
Log expression
Well 48/25-1
Sole Pit area, UK sector North
Sea
Verdier (1995)
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Compulsory reading
Nichols: Chapter 8