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Star Dune

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms

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Definition

A large pyramidal dune with three or more arms.

Synonyms

Cone-shaped dune Demkha; Ghourd (in the Sahara); Pyramidal dune; Sand massif; Stellate dune; Stellate rose

Description

A large pyramidal dune, roughly star-shaped or resembling a pinwheel Fig. 1. They have a central pyramid shaped peak/cone with three or more radial sinuous arms. Slip faces dip in at least three directions. They have a wide variety of shapes.

Morphometry

They are typically 0.5–1 km wide and 50–150 m high (Pye and Tsoar 1990). They are almost always considered as giant dunes (megadunes, see also Andreotti et al. 2009). On Mars, they have similar sizes (e.g., Edgett and Blumberg 1994b).

Subtype

Dune massif: a compound star dune forming an intricate pattern of arms and peaks (Glenn 1979; Fig. 3b); chain of stars – a complex dune where linear dunes are combined with star dunes on their crests (McKee 1979, p. 13).

Formation

Star dunes form in multidirectional wind regimes (Fig. 1). As a result of sand...

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References

  • Andreotti B, Fourrière A, Ould-Kaddour F, Murray B, Claudin P (2009) Size of giant dunes limited by the depth of the atmospheric boundary layer. Nature 457:1120–1123

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  • Edgett KS, Blumberg DG (1994b) Star and linear dunes on Mars. Icarus 112(2):448–464

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  • Zhang D, Narteau C, Rozier O, Courrech du Pont S (2012) Morphology and dynamics of star dunes from numerical modelling. Nat Geosci 5:463–467

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Univ Paris Diderot, UMR 7154, CNRS, France

    Clément Narteau

  2. Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Mosca, CO, USA

    Andrew Valdez

  3. Planetary Science Research Group, Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Henrik Hargitai

Authors
  1. Clément Narteau
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  2. Andrew Valdez
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  3. Henrik Hargitai
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Clément Narteau .

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Narteau, C., Valdez, A., Hargitai, H. (2014). Star Dune. In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_447-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_447-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9213-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

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