Factors controlling the development of cold-climate dune fields within the central part of the European Sand Belt – Insights from morphometry

Abstract

The central part of the European Sand Belt is an area where intense aeolian processes led to the development of large dune fields in the Lateglacial. They have been studied principally in terms of their stratigraphy, with less attention given to their evolution and geomorphology. It is also uncertain whether large dune fields in cold areas arise analogously to those formed in other climatic zones. To fill this gap, we performed a morphometric analysis of 31 stabilized dune fields in Poland using high-resolution LiDAR data. We related the outcomes to the morphological zones associated with the extent of the ice sheet during the LGM, the position and basement shape of the dune fields. The results indicate that dune fields in cold areas evolve in the same way as in other climatic zones, as expressed in the preserved relation between crest length, spacing, and defect density. The study found that the investigated dune fields have simple patterns composed of single populations of transverse to parabolic dunes facing E-ESE, suggesting their simultaneous formation in the Younger Dryas. At the same time, the varying degree of dune fields pattern development indicates the different duration of aeolian processes that shaped individual dune fields. The dominance of transverse dunes transformed partially or completely into parabolic dunes reflects the increasing role of vegetation over time and the decreasing supply of sand. The development of the dune field patterns was not found to be correlated with the extent of the ice sheet during the LGM, the morphological position, and the basement shape of the dune fields.