Abstract
In and around a sandsea of 80,000 km2, 120 dust samples have been collected by air filtration during a wind still period, a windy period and several dust storms between March 1985 and March 1986. In relation to these different meteorological conditions, Si concentration in dust increases from 0.5 to 70 μg/m3, correlated with the increasing wind energy and has been used as an indicator of the wind erosion intensity. As Si concentration increases, the Ca/Si ratio and the amount of calcite and gypsum’decrease. Inversely, the amounts of fine particles (<2μm) and of quartz and clay minerals increase. These results are in good agreement with the “behaviour” of the surface soils towards the deflation. About 60 soil samples have been sampled around the sites and classified according to the their ability to be eroded by the wind. For instance the most erodible soils are the carbonated powdery ones, which yield their directely available amount of calcite even when the wind intensity is low.
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© 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Rognon, P., Coudé-Gaussen, G., Bergametti, G., Gomes, L. (1989). Relationships between the Characteristics of Soils, the Wind Energy and Dust Near the Ground, in the Western Sandsea (N.W. Sahara). In: Leinen, M., Sarnthein, M. (eds) Paleoclimatology and Paleometeorology: Modern and Past Patterns of Global Atmospheric Transport. NATO ASI Series, vol 282. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0995-3_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0995-3_6
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