Introduction: Eolian dune fields found within Ti-tan's equatorial region between +30° latitude cover approximately 15-17% of the moon's surface [1]. These dominantly linear dunes are similar in form, size, and radar reflectivity to the large dunes of the Namib, Saharan, Saudi Arabian, and Australian deserts [2][3]. Earth analog studies indicate that the presence of linear dunes suggests adequat...

Archinamaqua gen. n. lyleae sp. n. (Pimeliinae Latreille, 1802, Tentyriini Eschscholtz, 1831) is described from the sand dunes of Namaqualand in northwestern South Africa. It is related to the genera Broomium Koch, 1950 and Archinamibia Koch, 1952. All these taxa are wingless and highly adapted nocturnal sand dwellers in dry habitats of the same area in northwestern South Africa and southern Na...

erosion by wind is one of the most important factors in desert environment. prevailing winds can shift sand dunes and affect their accumulation. also, wind regime determines the direction of sand dune mobility. the aim of this research was to investigate sand drift potential using sand movement models. for this research, wind data between 1986 and 2005 from the meteorological station of yazd we...

We investigate flow separation in the air flow over transverse sand dunes. CFD simulations of the air flow over differently shaped dunes are performed. The length of the recirculation region after the brink of the dune is found to depend strongly on the shape of the dune. We find that the nondimensionalised separation length depends linearly on the slope of the dune at the brink within a large ...

The Conservation Estate, administered by the Department of Conservation (DOC), contains areas of land of undetermined conservation value. These include coastal lands, obtained and managed by the Government of the day for other than conservation purposes. One such purpose was to stabilise coastal sand dunes where drifting sands presented a hazard to adjacent railway lines or roads. The Sand Drif...

Running performance depends on a mechanical interaction between the feet of an animal and the substrate. This interaction may differ between two species of sand lizard from the Mojave Desert that have different locomotor morphologies and habitat distributions. Uma scorparia possesses toe fringes and inhabits dunes, whereas the closely related Callisaurus draconoides lacks fringes and is found o...

Despite being a harsh environment, sand dunes are rich in invertebrates, with about 30% (188 species) of the British spider fauna represented (Duffey, 1968), and 53 species being strongly associated with coasts (Ratcliffe, 1977). Arachnologists have examined spider communities in relation to the seral succession of plant communities on sand dunes (e.g. Lowrie, 1948; Barnes, 1953; Perttula, 1984...