The INQUA Dunes Atlas chronologic database

The INQUA Dunes Atlas project has developed a global digital database of chronological information for periods of inland or continental sand dune accumulation and stabilization. The database comprises information on the site location (including coordinates), dune type, and stratigraphic context, pertinent analytical information (e.g. luminescence procedures), and literature citations to the original data source. This paper discusses the background to the project, the concept and structure of the chronologic database that forms its core, and gives some examples of the scope of the database and ways in which it can contribute to greater understanding of the spatial and temporal variability in dune development.

[1]  C. Swezey.  Eolian sediment responses to late Quaternary climate changes: Temporal and spatial patterns in the Sahara , 2001 .

[2]  M. Sarnthein.  Sand deserts during glacial maximum and climatic optimum , 1978, Nature.

[3]  N. Porat,et al.  Impact of luminescence dating on geomorphological and palaeoclimate research in drylands , 2008 .

[4]  A. Murray,et al.  Laboratory fading rates of various luminescence signals from feldspar-rich sediment extracts , 2008 .

[5]  Alexandra Hilgers.  The chronology of Late Glacial and Holocene dune development in the northern Central European lowland reconstructed by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating , 2007 .

[6]  Sandy P. Harrison,et al.  DIRTMAP: the geological record of dust , 2001 .

[7]  David S. G. Thomas,et al.  Luminescence-based dune chronologies in southern Africa: Analysis and interpretation of dune database records across the subcontinent , 2016 .

[8]  N. Lancaster,et al.  Late Pleistocene and Holocene dune activity and wind regimes in the western Sahara Desert of Mauritania , 2002 .

[9]  J. Mason,et al.  Modern and late Holocene wind regimes over the Great Plains (central U.S.A.) , 2010 .

[10]  R. Oglesby,et al.  Large Wind Shift on the Great Plains During the Medieval Warm Period , 2006, Science.

[11]  Xiaoping Yang,et al.  Spatial and temporal patterns of aeolian activities in the desert belt of northern China revealed by dune chronologies , 2016 .

[12]  G. Duller.  Luminescence dating of quaternary sediments: recent advances , 2004 .

[13]  A. Murray,et al.  Luminescence dating of quartz using an improved single aliquot regenerative-dose protocol , 2000 .

[14]  D. Thomas,et al.  A quantitative approach to understanding dated dune stratigraphies , 2014 .

[15]  Paul Hesse,et al.  How do longitudinal dunes respond to climate forcing? Insights from 25 years of luminescence dating of the Australian desert dunefields , 2016 .

[16]  David S. G. Thomas.  Desert dune activity: concepts and significance , 1992 .

[17]  Alfonsina Tripaldi,et al.  A review of Late Quaternary inland dune systems of South America east of the Andes , 2016 .

[18]  David S. G. Thomas,et al.  Understanding linear dune chronologies: Insights from a simple accumulation model , 2010 .

[19]  Nicholas Lancaster,et al.  Interpretations and common challenges of aeolian records from North American dune fields , 2016 .

[20]  D. P. Agrawal,et al.  Thermoluminescence dating of sand dunes in Rajasthan, India , 1982, Nature.

[21]  P. Hesse,et al.  Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions from linear dunefields: recent progress, current challenges and future directions , 2013 .

[22]  N. Lancaster,et al.  Aeolian system sediment state: theory and Mojave Desert Kelso dune field example , 1999 .

[23]  David S. G. Thomas,et al.  Reproducibility and utility of dune luminescence chronologies , 2014 .

[24]  K. Kaiser,et al.  Holocene aeolian dynamics in the European sand‐belt as indicated by geochronological data , 2012 .

[25]  David S. G. Thomas,et al.  Interpreting geoproxies of late Quaternary climate change in African drylands: Implications for understanding environmental change and early human behaviour , 2012 .

[26]  E. Koster.  The “European Aeolian Sand Belt”: Geoconservation of Drift Sand Landscapes , 2009 .

[27]  David S. G. Thomas,et al.  Extending the aridity record of the Southwest Kalahari: current problems and future perspectives , 2003 .

[28]  Charlie S. Bristow,et al.  Dune ages in the sand deserts of the southern Sahara and Sahel , 2015 .