Creep of aeolian sediments on the surface of granule ripples and its geomorphological significance

doi:10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2024.00136

Journal of Desert Research ›› 2024, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (6): 287-298.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2024.00136

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Creep of aeolian sediments on the surface of granule ripples and its geomorphological significance

Guangqiang Qian¹(), Zhuanling Yang², Xuegang Xing², Zhibao Dong³, Kaijia Pan¹, Yuxuan Meng¹, Youyuan Guo¹

^1.Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands，Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources，Chinese Academy of Sciences，Lanzhou 730000，China
^2.School of Geography and Resource Science，Guizhou Education University，Guiyang 550018，China
^3.Planetary Aeolian Research Institute，Shaanxi Normal University，Xi'an 710119，China

Received:2024-09-10 Revised:2024-09-24 Online:2024-11-20 Published:2024-12-06

Abstract

Abstract:

Creep is one of the three fundamental forms of blown sand movement and is currently a less-studied research area. Granule ripples， as a unique aeolian landform， are characterized by surfaces covered with coarse particles and composed of bimodal sediments. Their formation and evolution are closely related to creep movement， and the scientific community's understanding of their morphodynamic processes is quite limited. Therefore， this paper uses granule ripples as a study subject to investigate the laws of creep movement and explore their geomorphological significance. The research was conducted in the Sanlunsha area of the northern Kumtagh Desert， using a novel creep sand trap. We conducted 10 continuous in-situ observations over a period of 14 months. The results indicate that the creep sand flux on the surface of granule ripples ranges from 0.047 g·cm^-2·min^-1 to 0.352 g·cm^-2·min^-1， with significant seasonal variations. The grain size distribution of the creep material is bimodal， well-sorted， coarse-skewed， and has platy kurtosis. The content of medium and fine sand can reach 85%， while coarse sand and larger particles account for more than 10%. Creep sand fluxes exhibited clear variations depending on grain size， with the highest fluxes occurring in medium and fine sands， and measurably lower fluxes in very coarse sands and very fine gravels. There is a correlation between the creep sand flux and the average sand-driving wind speed. The strongest creep sand flux occurred during summer dust storms， while the weakest occurred in winter. In addition to wind conditions， the grain size characteristics of the sediments and the supply of sand from different directions also influence the creep sand flux and material composition. From a sedimentological perspective， the creep movement on the surface of granule ripples significantly contributes to the formation of their internal poured-in structures and coarse-fine interlayered forest laminations. This research provides new insights into the physical processes of wind-driven creep and the evolution of granule ripple bedforms. The traditional method of classifying creep based on grain size is questionable， and a more in-depth study of the mechanisms of creep movement and its geomorphological significance is necessary.

Key words: creep, granule ripple, sand trap, sand flux, wind regime

CLC Number:

P931.3

Guangqiang Qian, Zhuanling Yang, Xuegang Xing, Zhibao Dong, Kaijia Pan, Yuxuan Meng, Youyuan Guo. Creep of aeolian sediments on the surface of granule ripples and its geomorphological significance[J]. Journal of Desert Research, 2024, 44(6): 287-298.

Figures/Tables 14

Fig.1 Location of the study area （A） and the creep sand trap （B） installed on the surface of typical granule ripples （C）

Fig.2 Diagram of the appearance （A） and structure of the creep sand trap （B，units in mm）

Table 1 Start and end times of the ten creep observations and the sand-driving wind conditions

编号	观测日期	天数	起沙风时长 / ×10 min	平均风速 /(m·s^-1)	最大风速 /(m·s^-1)
P1	2021-12-12—2022-01-28	48	114	7.84	11.17
P2	2022-01-29—2022-03-28	59	1 526	8.73	13.84
P3	2022-03-29—2022-05-09	42	1 422	8.98	16.65
P4	2022-05-10—2022-06-03	25	1 682	8.91	15.94
P5	2022-06-04—2022-07-03	31	1 451	8.63	14.01
P6	2022-07-04—2022-07-08	4	260	10.51	18.02
P7	2022-07-09—2022-09-05	59	2 769	9.10	18.50
P8	2022-09-06—2022-11-17	73	2 016	9.04	15.65
P9	2022-11-14—2022-12-31	45	492	8.54	17.28
P10	2023-01-01—2023-02-08	38	422	9.32	16.93

Fig.3 Creep sand flux （qc） and average sand-driving and maximum wind speeds for different observation periods

Fig.4 Variations in creep sand flux for different grain size fractions during different observation periods

Table 2 Grain size percentage content of each observation and surface samples （%）

编号	极细砾	极粗沙	粗沙	中沙	细沙	极细沙	粉沙黏土
P1	0.04	0.33	4.70	49.21	42.05	3.64	0.00
P2	0.40	1.95	3.94	42.38	45.74	5.55	0.00
P3	0.04	0.90	6.33	53.78	36.84	2.04	0.00
P4	0.23	3.56	7.29	53.44	33.56	1.90	0.00
P5	1.32	7.21	5.18	46.11	36.26	3.82	0.00
P6	1.66	11.11	4.84	42.23	38.69	1.40	0.00
P7	0.37	2.68	4.95	48.21	41.13	2.56	0.00
P8	0.66	7.74	6.69	47.09	35.23	2.59	0.00
P9	1.50	8.82	5.57	43.36	38.30	2.42	0.00
P10	1.55	8.69	5.51	46.58	35.25	2.39	0.00
地表	2.79	32.29	6.13	27.60	26.31	4.60	0.23

Fig.5 Enrichment ratios of different grain size fractions relative to the surface sediments

Fig.6 Grain size distribution curves of creep material and surface sediments from each observation

Fig.7 Grain size parameters of creep material collected during each observation and surface sediments

Fig.8 Wind speed and direction rose diagrams for each observation period

Table 3 Frequency of occurrence of different wind speed intervals during each observation period

风速/（m·s^-1）	P1	P2	P3	P4	P5	P6	P7	P8	P9	P10
[0, 5.87)	97.41	79.46	72.37	47.72	61.94	49.57	63.05	78.02	90.50	90.94
[5.87, 7.84)	1.85	9.15	12.30	22.61	17.96	10.81	14.39	8.68	5.16	4.15
[7.84, 10.42)	0.68	8.32	10.62	19.36	14.63	22.81	15.56	9.35	3.55	2.56
[10.42, 13.8)	0.06	3.06	4.15	9.58	5.35	8.92	6.30	3.29	0.47	2.03
[13.8, ∞)	0.00	0.01	0.56	0.72	0.12	7.89	0.71	0.67	0.32	0.33

Table 4 Changes in sand transport potential during each observation period

指示	P1	P2	P3	P4	P5	P6	P7	P8	P9	P10
DP_N/（VU）	0.00	6.09	3.88	4.37	18.63	3.67	28.81	15.35	11.77	9.23
DP_NNE/（VU）	0.05	58.10	67.31	19.90	37.93	32.14	118.76	85.99	10.70	19.44
DP_NE/（VU）	0.01	3.47	8.55	19.43	2.62	1.71	16.94	4.90	1.06	2.58
DP_ENE/（VU）	0.00	0.06	0.23	13.44	0.32	0.00	0.20	0.25	0.00	0.03
DP_E/（VU）	1.95	4.49	0.67	23.42	4.99	0.00	1.33	13.93	1.16	0.14
DP_ESE/（VU）	0.18	0.11	1.00	6.02	0.48	0.00	2.44	0.83	0.10	0.00
DP_SE/（VU）	0.01	0.00	0.07	0.59	0.06	0.00	1.62	0.01	0.00	0.00
DP_SSE/（VU）	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.01	0.00	0.16	0.03	0.00	0.00
DP_S/（VU）	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.04	0.00	0.00	0.00
DP_SSW/（VU）	0.00	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.07	0.00	0.00	0.00
DP_SW/（VU）	0.11	0.03	0.08	1.28	0.00	0.00	0.48	0.04	0.00	0.00
DP_WSW/（VU）	0.46	0.05	0.65	2.62	0.02	0.00	0.28	0.06	0.00	1.43
DP_W/（VU）	0.00	0.43	0.46	0.09	0.08	0.00	0.15	0.19	0.00	0.01
DP_WNW/（VU）	0.00	0.16	0.22	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.13	0.02	0.00	0.00
DP_NW/（VU）	0.00	0.00	0.03	0.00	0.14	0.00	0.52	0.01	0.00	0.00
DP_NNW/（VU）	0.00	0.27	0.29	2.18	0.56	0.00	0.10	0.00	0.00	0.00
$∑ D P$ /（VU）	2.77	73.27	83.44	93.33	65.84	37.53	172.06	121.60	24.78	32.86
RDP/（VU）	1.68	68.43	78.46	70.59	59.93	36.98	159.92	110.07	23.13	29.53
RDD/（°）	279.80	204.56	204.12	236.50	201.14	201.29	202.36	207.48	195.21	195.83
RDP/DP	0.60	0.93	0.94	0.76	0.91	0.99	0.93	0.91	0.93	0.90

Table 4 Changes in sand transport potential during each observation period

指示	P1	P2	P3	P4	P5	P6	P7	P8	P9	P10
DP_N/（VU）	0.00	6.09	3.88	4.37	18.63	3.67	28.81	15.35	11.77	9.23
DP_NNE/（VU）	0.05	58.10	67.31	19.90	37.93	32.14	118.76	85.99	10.70	19.44
DP_NE/（VU）	0.01	3.47	8.55	19.43	2.62	1.71	16.94	4.90	1.06	2.58
DP_ENE/（VU）	0.00	0.06	0.23	13.44	0.32	0.00	0.20	0.25	0.00	0.03
DP_E/（VU）	1.95	4.49	0.67	23.42	4.99	0.00	1.33	13.93	1.16	0.14
DP_ESE/（VU）	0.18	0.11	1.00	6.02	0.48	0.00	2.44	0.83	0.10	0.00
DP_SE/（VU）	0.01	0.00	0.07	0.59	0.06	0.00	1.62	0.01	0.00	0.00
DP_SSE/（VU）	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.01	0.00	0.16	0.03	0.00	0.00
DP_S/（VU）	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.04	0.00	0.00	0.00
DP_SSW/（VU）	0.00	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.07	0.00	0.00	0.00
DP_SW/（VU）	0.11	0.03	0.08	1.28	0.00	0.00	0.48	0.04	0.00	0.00
DP_WSW/（VU）	0.46	0.05	0.65	2.62	0.02	0.00	0.28	0.06	0.00	1.43
DP_W/（VU）	0.00	0.43	0.46	0.09	0.08	0.00	0.15	0.19	0.00	0.01
DP_WNW/（VU）	0.00	0.16	0.22	0.01	0.00	0.00	0.13	0.02	0.00	0.00
DP_NW/（VU）	0.00	0.00	0.03	0.00	0.14	0.00	0.52	0.01	0.00	0.00
DP_NNW/（VU）	0.00	0.27	0.29	2.18	0.56	0.00	0.10	0.00	0.00	0.00
$∑ D P$ /（VU）	2.77	73.27	83.44	93.33	65.84	37.53	172.06	121.60	24.78	32.86
RDP/（VU）	1.68	68.43	78.46	70.59	59.93	36.98	159.92	110.07	23.13	29.53
RDD/（°）	279.80	204.56	204.12	236.50	201.14	201.29	202.36	207.48	195.21	195.83
RDP/DP	0.60	0.93	0.94	0.76	0.91	0.99	0.93	0.91	0.93	0.90

Fig.9 Relationship between creep sand flux and wind speed

Fig.10 Diagram of the material composition on the surface of granule ripples and their internal sedimentary structure

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Creep of aeolian sediments on the surface of granule ripples and its geomorphological significance

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