QUATERNARY DUNE FIELDS AND SAND SEAS - A GLOBAL CHRONOLOGIC AND SPATIAL DATABASE

The majority of aeolian sand is found in sand seas and dune fields in arid and semi-arid areas in low and mid latitudes, as well as periglacial environments at high latitudes. Sand seas and dune fields currently exist in a variety of states, from fully active to completely stabilized by vegetation.

Their formation has been determined by climatic, tectonic, and sea level changes that have affected sand supply, availability, and mobility, as well as the preservation of prior episodes of aeolian activity. Sand seas and dune fields therefore provide an archive of the effects of Quaternary climate change, including a unique dataset on past wind directions.

We (the members of INQUA Project 0704) are currently compiling a global digital database of geographically-located chronologic information on periods of aeolian sand deposition for desert and other inland dune fields and sand seas, facilitated by an international network of regional experts.

The database incorporates information on dune morphology, activity status, and chronology, so enabling regional and global correlation of periods of dune construction or reworking via construction of time-slice maps of dune development and extent. Metadata includes full information on dating methods, confidence levels for the chronologic data, literature citations, and other pertinent information as available. The database will be accessed, analyzed, and visualized using a geographic information systems approach and will be available via Google Earth, a web-accessible database, and in a gridded form, thereby facilitating modeling and verification of past, present, and future climates.