Joel Roskin
Lupeng Yu- 1Department of Geography and Environment, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
- 2Luminescence Research Laboratory, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Water and Soil Conservation and Environmental Protection, School of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Linyi University, Linyi, China
Editorial on the Research Topic
Aeolian-fluvial surficial processes and Paleoenvironmental archives: characteristics, mechanisms, and method
Interactions between aeolian and fluvial (A-F) processes - the coupling of sediment transport by wind and water, play a fundamental role in shaping the geological, Quaternary and current surface of the Earth from local to regional scales. These processes have unique impacts upon landscape development, land degradation and hydrological patterns that in turn, since prehistoric times can sometimes postively or negatively impact human habitats (Magaritz and Enzel, 1990; Sankey and Draut, 2014; Vardi et al., 2018; Yu et al., 2015; Yu et al., 2022; An et al., 2020; Pang et al., 2023).
Aeolian-Fluvial (A-F) processes determine landform (Robins et al., 2022; Forman et al., 2023) and dunefield evolution (Yu et al., 2019; Yu et al., 2022) by scaling the ability of aeolian mass to overcome fluvial energy and vice versa (Williams, 2015). These processes are common in semi-arid to arid environments in both hemispheres, especially along dunefield margins (Loope et al., 1995; Bullard and McTainsh, 2003; Roskin et al., 2014; Al-Masrahy and Mountney, 2015; Liu and Coulthard, 2015; Mehl et al., 2018; Robins et al., 2022; Yu et al., 2022; Pang et al., 2023), where high-energy flows, generated at the upper reaches of basins, interact with dunefield sand (Al-Masrahy and Mountney, 2015). This process of dune-damming and deranging fluvial systems is a major A-F process whose outcome is the deposition of both fluvial sediments originating from upstream and local aeolian dunefield sediments in a variety of intrinsic mixtures and stratigraphic signatures (Loope et al., 1995; Robins et al., 2022).
A-F archives, by recording both aeolian and fluvial activity establish their dominating time sequences and spatial boundaries. Therefore, terrestrial A-F interactions (AFI’s) are crucial for studies of climate change impacts, geological records (Fryberger et al., 2016), dunefield evolution, and palaeohydrology. Recent studies have demonstrated that A-F cycles respond to glacial inter-glacial cycles in cold deserts (Yu et al., 2019; Yu et al., 2020; Yu et al., 2022). They also provide analogues for similar planetary processes, recently reported in Mars and Titan (Bahia R. et al., 2023; Bahia R. S. et al., 2023; Bohaceck et al., 2023). Research is necessary to acknowledge stratigraphic and morphological evidence of AFIs (Roskin et al., 2017; Robins et al., 2022; Robins et al., 2023), interpret and model the mechanisms of AFI’s, and glean their paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic information. As A-F processes have been sparsely studied but are recently attracting growing interest, we thought it was timely to produce a SI on the topic.
This SI entitled Aeolian-fluvial surficial processes and Paleoenvironmental archives: characteristics, mechanisms, and Method aimed to deepen the understanding of some fundamental questions about characteristics, processes, and mechanisms of AFI’s. The main aspects that were called upon were: 1) sedimentological, stratigraphic and distribution characteristics of different types of AFI’s records in dunefields under different environments and climates; 2) the dominant fluvial and aeolian properties controlling the range of A-F processes, e.g., formation, maintenance and decimation of dune-dammed water bodies; 3) A-F response to climatic and environmental changes in different time-scales, and 4) the role of AFIs and cycles upon dunefield and fluvial landscape evolution, and hydrological impacts like oases formation. The study of AFI’s are also envisioned to broaden the scope of aeolian studies that are often perceived as secondary, at least in quantity, in relation to those in fluvial geomorphology (Stout et al., 2009). Furthermore, the understandings derived from A-F studies yield secondary derivatives such as an approach-oriented awareness that many geomorphic outcomes may be a combination of several different processes.
Following a rigorous selection, reviewing and editing process, the SI output in the form of six papers mainly reflects some of the goals of the SI. The papers dealt with a broad range of studies from a wide range of geomorphic environments that have a significant aeolian aspect. A majority of the papers relate to aeolian environments in northern China and in particular, the Tibetan Plateau (TP) margins, where long-term and largescale AFIs are common (Li et al., 2020) during the late Quaternary and to a lesser extent, are ongoing (Yu et al., 2019; Yu et al., 2020; Li et al., 2021; Yu et al., 2022).
Two papers in the SI display how aeolian, fluvial and lacustrine processes may influence geomorphic evolution and sedimentary record under climate change. Liu et al. attributed for the first time the formation of the Hetao paleo-lake to the AFIs controlled by glacial-interglacial scale climatic change. Here, the expanded Hobq dunefield dammed the Yellow River during glacial periods. Consequently, the dammed lake filled due to resumed precipitation and glacial meltwater from the northeastern TP at the early stage of interglacial periods (MIS7 and MIS5). Hu et al. revealed that the seasonal ice-covered lake on the TP may lead to spatial heterogeneity of aeolian sediment within a catchment, because cracks on the ice surface capture coarse grains.
The SI encompasses a wide range of field, remote and analytical research approaches and methods. Shi et al. applied rare Earth elements to fingerprint provenance of aeolian loess in the Menyuan Basin, northeastern TP, and found the dust was mainly sourced from the Qaidam Desert and Taklamakan Desert by the Westerlies, and from the Badain Jaran Desert by the East Asia Winter Monsoon as well. Wei et al. copes with the problem of poorly and variable solar resetting of quartz grains for ESR dating from outburst flood sediments in the southeastern TP. The residual ages ranged between ca. 283 and 1,400 ka, challenge the suitability of ESR for dating such sediments. Indeed, dune-dammed, loess-sourced A-F sediments have been found to have undergone partial and inconsistent solar resetting of luminescence signals during fluvial transport in the arid Negev desert (Kenworthy et al., 2014; Robins et al., 2022).
Two papers dealt with new GIS-based geomorphic mapping approaches at a dunefield level generating a framework for understanding process-based interactions between dunes and a wide range of landforms such as fluvial systems (Fischer et al.; Petrović et al.). These novel approaches are beneficial for dunefield mapping based on open-source imagery and datasets that attempt to delineate areas of AFI’s. Fischer et al. using semi-automated geographic object-based image analysis demonstrates correlations between dune orientation, wind regime and the role of uplands as deflective barriers to longitudinal dune migration. The role of dune spacing and sediment supply upon the location of ephemeral and abandoned fluvial channels is also discussed. Using unsupervised machine-learning, Petrović et al. statistically evaluates the links between the contemporary low-energy climate and stabilized dune morphologies of the Karakum and Kyzylkum dunefields that reflect winds that most likely varied in strength, but not in direction.
Altogether this seems to be the first Research Topic dedicated to AFIs. Beyond its contribution to this sub-discipline that appears to be emerging in China, the SI also provides a lens into incorporating cryospheric oriented impacts upon conventional geomorphic processes (French and Shur, 2010). We look forward to seeing new scientists and studies engaging in A-F themes that in turn, are anticipated to result in broader and perhaps more complex understandings of the processes that shape significant proportions of the critical zone of Earth and several planets. The recent reports and preliminary modelling of planetary AFIs (Bahia et al., 2023; Bahia R. S. et al., 2023; Bohaceck et al., 2023) are exciting breakthroughs and are anticipated to generate a new and substantial sub-discipline of AFI studies that may in turn regenerate analogue-oriented field and modelling studies of terrestrial AFIs.
Author contributions
JR: Writing–original draft. LY: Writing–review and editing.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Publisher’s note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
References
Al-Masrahy, M. A., and Mountney, N. P. (2015). A classification scheme for fluvial–aeolian system interaction in desert-margin settings. Aeolian Res. 17, 67–88. doi:10.1016/j.aeolia.2015.01.010
An, P., Yu, L. P., Wang, Y. X., Miao, X. D., Wang, C. S., Lai, Z. P., et al. (2020). Holocene incisions and flood activities of the Keriya River, NW margin of the Tibetan plateau. J. Asian Earth Sci. 191, 104224. doi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2019.104224
Bahia, R., Bohacek, E., Braat, L., Boazman, S., Sefton-Nash, E., Orgel, C., et al. (2023a). “Modelling River-dune interactions on ancient Mars,” in EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023.
Bahia, R. S., Bohacek, E. V., Braat, L., Boazman, S., Sefton-Nash, E., Orgel, C., et al. (2023b). A major missing component—aeolian-fluvial interactions on ancient Mars. LPI Contrib. 2806, 1193.
Bohaceck, E. V., Bahia, R. S., Braat, L., Boazman, S., Sefton-Nash, E., Orgel, C., et al. (2023). “Modelling River-dunes interactions on titan,” in EGU23, the 25th EGU General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023.
Bullard, J. E., and McTainsh, G. H. (2003). Aeolian-fluvial interactions in dryland environments: examples, concepts and Australia case study. Prog. Phys. Geogr. 27 (4), 471–501. doi:10.1191/0309133303pp386ra
Forman, S. L., Wu, Z., Wiest, L., Marin, L., and Mayhack, C. (2023). Late quaternary fluvial and aeolian depositional environments for the western red river, southern great plains, USA. Quat. Res. 115, 3–24. doi:10.1017/qua.2023.15
French, H., and Shur, Y. (2010). The principles of cryostratigraphy. Earth-Science Rev. 101 (3-4), 190–206. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2010.04.002
Fryberger, S. G., Hern, C. Y., and Glennie, K. (2016). Sedimentology of reservoir-scale aeolian-fluvial interactions, wadi batha, northern wahiba sand sea, Oman. Search Discov. Article 51260, 1–7.
Kenworthy, M. K., Rittenour, T. M., Pierce, J. L., Sutfin, N. A., and Sharp, W. D. (2014). Luminescence dating without sand lenses: an application of OSL to coarse-grained alluvial fan deposits of the Lost River Range, Idaho, USA. Quat. Geochronol. 23, 9–25. doi:10.1016/j.quageo.2014.03.004
Li, X. M., Yan, P., Cao, L. G., and Liu, B. L. (2021). Distinct aeolian-fluvial interbedded landscapes in three watersheds of the northern China. Chin. Geogr. Sci. 31 (6), 1070–1081. doi:10.1007/s11769-021-1211-y
Liu, B., and Coulthard, T. J. (2015). Mapping the interactions between rivers and sand dunes: implications for fluvial and aeolian geomorphology. Geomorphology 231, 246–257.
Li, X. M., Yan, P., and Liu, B. L. (2020). Geomorphological classification of aeolian-fluvial interactions in the desert region of north China. J. Arid Environ. 172, 104021. doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2019.104021
Loope, D. B., Swinehart, J. B., and Mason, J. P. (1995). Dune-dammed paleovalleys of the Nebraska Sand Hills: intrinsic versus climatic controls on the accumulation of lake and marsh sediments. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 107 (4), 396–0406. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1995)107<0396:ddpotn>2.3.co;2
Magaritz, M., and Enzel, Y. (1990). Standing-water deposits as indicators of late quaternary dune migration in the northwestern Negev, Israel. Climatic Change 16 (3), 307–318
Mehl, A., Tripaldi, A., and Zárate, M. (2018). Late Quaternary aeolian and fluvial-aeolian deposits from southwestern Pampas of Argentina, southern South America. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 511, 280–297. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.08.014
Pang, H., Gao, H., Eduardo, G., Li, F., and Pan, B. (2023). Fluvial-aeolian interactions in northern China (Upper Yellow River): implications for provenance and paleoenvironmental interpretations. CATENA 231, 107257. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2023.107257
Robins, L., Roskin, J., Yu, L. P., Bookman, R., and Greenbaum, N. (2022). Aeolian-fluvial processes control landscape evolution along dunefield margins of the northwestern Negev (Israel) since the late Quaternary. Quat. Sci. Rev. 285, 107520. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107520
Roskin, J., Bookman, R., Friesem, D. E., and Vardi, J. (2017). A late Pleistocene linear dune dam record of aeolian-fluvial dynamics at the fringes of the northwestern Negev dunefield. Sediment. Geol. 353, 76–95. doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2017.03.011
Roskin, J., Katra, I., Agha, N., Goring-Morris, A. N., Porat, N., and Barzilai, O. (2014). Rapid anthropogenic response to short-term aeolian-fluvial palaeoenvironmental changes during the Late Pleistocene–Holocene transition in the northern Negev Desert, Israel. Quat. Sci. Rev. 99, 176–192. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.06.018
Robins, L., Roskin, J., Marder, O., Edeltin, L., Yu, L., and Greenbaum, N. (2023). Geomorphic, environmental, and archeological significance of last glacial maximum to middle Holocene dune damming, Northwestern Negev dunefield.
Sankey, J. B., and Draut, A. E. (2014). Gully annealing by aeolian sediment: field and remote-sensing investigation of aeolian–hillslope–fluvial interactions, Colorado River corridor, Arizona, USA. Geomorphology 220, 68–80. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.05.028
Stout, J. E., Warren, A., and Gill, T. E. (2009). Publication trends in aeolian research: an analysis of the Bibliography of Aeolian Research. Geomorphology 105 (1-2), 6–17. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2008.02.015
Vardi, J., Marder, O., Bookman, R., Friesem, D. E., Groman-Yeroslavski, I., Edeltin, L., et al. (2018). Middle to Late Epipaleolithic hunter-gatherer encampments at the Ashalim site, on a linear dune-like morphology, along dunefield margin water bodies. Quat. Int. 464, 187–205. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2017.06.011
Williams, M. (2015). Interactions between fluvial and eolian geomorphic systems and processes: examples from the Sahara and Australia. Catena 134, 4–13.
Yu, L. P., Lai, Z. P., An, P., Pan, T., and Chang, Q. F. (2015). Aeolian sediments evolution controlled by fluvial processes, climate change and human activities since LGM in the Qaidam Basin, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Quat. Int. 372, 23–32. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2014.09.043
Yu, L. P., Roskin, J., and Greenbaum, N. (2019). Aeolian-fluvial interactions stabilize desert in the Qaidam basin, qinghai-Tibetan plateau. Geophys. Res. Abstr. 21, EGU2019–19084.
Yu, L. P., Roskin, J., and Greenbaum, N. (2020). Aeolian-fluvial sediments as palaeoenvironmental records in the eastern Qaidam Basin, NE Tibetan Plateau, since MIS6. EGU General Assem. 2020, EGU2020–21453.
Keywords: Aeolian-fluvial interaction, dunefield, quaternary, palaeohydrology, sediments, planet geomorphology, Tibetan Plateau
Citation: Roskin J and Yu L (2023) Editorial: Aeolian-fluvial surficial processes and paleoenvironmental archives: characteristics, mechanisms, and method. Front. Earth Sci. 11:1290955. doi: 10.3389/feart.2023.1290955
Received: 08 September 2023; Accepted: 12 October 2023;
Published: 31 October 2023.
Edited and reviewed by:
Steven L. Forman, Baylor University, United StatesCopyright © 2023 Roskin and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Joel Roskin, eW9lbHJAYmd1LmFjLmlsJiN4MDIwMGE7