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Inland dunes of Sweden, an aeolian archive

Bernhardson, Martin LU and Alexanderson, Helena LU (2017) Fifth International Planetary Dunes Workshop p.3030-3030
Abstract
Sweden is not famous for its dune fields, and rightfully so; compared to most other countries of the world the Swedish dune fields are humble in size. Also, many of them are inactive and covered by vegetation. Due to this the dune fields of Sweden have been left largely unexplored the last decades. This is unfortunate since many of the dune fields in Sweden are valuable palaeo-environmental time capsules, recording e.g. past wind patterns. We have therefore studied a number of these dune fields and dunes in south-central Swedenusing LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) based remote sensing, sedimentological field investigations, optically stimulated luminescence dating and... (More)
Sweden is not famous for its dune fields, and rightfully so; compared to most other countries of the world the Swedish dune fields are humble in size. Also, many of them are inactive and covered by vegetation. Due to this the dune fields of Sweden have been left largely unexplored the last decades. This is unfortunate since many of the dune fields in Sweden are valuable palaeo-environmental time capsules, recording e.g. past wind patterns. We have therefore studied a number of these dune fields and dunes in south-central Swedenusing LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) based remote sensing, sedimentological field investigations, optically stimulated luminescence dating and ground-penetrating radar. Here we present one example, Bonäsheden, the largest continuous dune field in Sweden, covering around 15.5 km2. The dunes of Bonäsheden are primar-ily of a transverse type, mainly formed by north-westerly winds, in contrast to most dunes present in former periglacial areas of the world, where parabolic dunes often are the most common type. The lumines-cence ages show that the majority of the dunes formed shortly after the deglaciation of this part of Sweden, around 10.5 ka, and later events of sand drift in the area were limited. Still, there seem to have been an ongoing phase of dune formation for 1,500 years, with a shift at 10 ka from primarily north-westerly dune forming winds to westerly dune forming winds. The reason behind this change in wind direction is still un-known, but the retreat of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet from the area would mean that the katabatic winds would have had a progressively smaller impact on the dune field. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
published
subject
pages
3030 - 3030
conference name
Fifth International Planetary Dunes Workshop
conference location
St George, United States
conference dates
2017-05-16 - 2017-05-19
project
Aeolian activity in Sweden: an unexplored environmental archive
Aeolian records
Aeolian Dunes of Central Scandinavia
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
937be790-6a78-4d6b-a3dd-c846111f9932
alternative location
https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/dunes2017/pdf/3030.pdf
date added to LUP
2019-06-01 16:42:19
date last changed
2019-06-12 15:32:24
@misc{937be790-6a78-4d6b-a3dd-c846111f9932,
  abstract     = {{Sweden is not famous for its dune fields, and rightfully so;  compared  to  most  other  countries  of  the  world  the Swedish dune  fields are humble in size. Also, many of them  are  inactive  and  covered  by  vegetation.  Due  to this  the  dune  fields  of  Sweden  have  been  left  largely unexplored  the  last  decades. This  is  unfortunate  since many of the dune fields in Sweden are valuable palaeo-environmental  time  capsules,  recording  e.g.  past  wind patterns.  We  have  therefore  studied  a  number  of  these dune  fields  and  dunes  in  south-central  Swedenusing LiDAR  (Light  Detection  And  Ranging)  based  remote sensing, sedimentological field investigations, optically stimulated luminescence dating and ground-penetrating radar. Here  we  present  one  example,  Bonäsheden,  the largest   continuous   dune   field   in   Sweden,   covering around 15.5 km2. The dunes of Bonäsheden are primar-ily   of  a  transverse  type,  mainly  formed  by  north-westerly  winds,  in  contrast  to  most  dunes  present  in former  periglacial  areas  of  the  world,  where  parabolic dunes  often  are  the  most  common  type.  The  lumines-cence ages show that the majority of the dunes formed shortly  after  the  deglaciation  of  this  part  of  Sweden, around  10.5  ka,  and  later  events  of  sand  drift  in  the area  were  limited.  Still,  there  seem  to  have  been  an ongoing phase of dune formation for 1,500 years, with a  shift  at  10  ka  from  primarily  north-westerly  dune forming  winds  to  westerly  dune  forming  winds.  The reason behind this change  in wind direction is still un-known,  but  the  retreat  of  the  Scandinavian  Ice  Sheet from  the  area  would  mean  that  the  katabatic  winds would  have  had  a  progressively  smaller  impact  on  the dune field.}},
  author       = {{Bernhardson, Martin and Alexanderson, Helena}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{3030--3030}},
  title        = {{Inland dunes of Sweden, an aeolian archive}},
  url          = {{https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/dunes2017/pdf/3030.pdf}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}