Sand residence times of one million years in the Namib Sand Sea from cosmogenic nuclides

Vermeesch, P., Fenton, C.R., Kober, F., Wiggs, G.F.S., Bristow, C.S. and Xu, S. (2010) Sand residence times of one million years in the Namib Sand Sea from cosmogenic nuclides. Nature Geoscience, 3(12), pp. 862-865. (doi: 10.1038/ngeo985)

Full text not currently available from Enlighten.

Abstract

The Namib Sand Sea is one of the world’s oldest and largest sand deserts1, yet little is known about the source of the sand in this, or other large deserts2. In particular, it is unclear whether the sand is derived from local sediment or comes from remote sources. The relatively uniform appearance of dune sands and low compositional variability within dune fields3 make it difficult to address this question. Here we combine cosmogenic-nuclide measurements and geochronological techniques to assess the provenance and migration history of sand grains in the Namib Sand Sea. We use U–Pb geochronology of detrital zircons to show that the primary source of sand is the Orange River at the southern edge of the Namib desert. Our burial ages obtained from measurements of the cosmogenic nuclides 10Be, 26Al and 21Ne suggest that the residence time of sand within the sand sea is at least one million years. We therefore conclude that, despite large climatic changes in the Namib region associated with Quaternary glacial–interglacial cycles4, 5, the area currently occupied by the Namib Sand Sea has never been entirely devoid of sand during the past million years.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Fenton, Dr Cassandra and Xu, Dr Sheng
Authors: Vermeesch, P., Fenton, C.R., Kober, F., Wiggs, G.F.S., Bristow, C.S., and Xu, S.
Subjects:G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre
Journal Name:Nature Geoscience
ISSN:1752-0894
ISSN (Online):1752-0908
Published Online:31 October 2010

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record