Tertiary Tsondab Sandstone Formation: preliminary bedform reconstruction and comparison to modern Namib Sand Sea dunes |
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| Authors: | Gary Kocurek Nicholas Lancaster Mary Carr Andy Frank |
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| Institution: | 1 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712 USA;2 Desert Research Institute, Quaternary Sciences Center, PO Box 60220, Reno, Nevada 89506 USA |
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| Abstract: | The Tertiary Tsondab Sandstone Formation, which underlies much of the present Namib Sand Sea, is a key element in understanding the Cenozoic evolution of the Namib Desert. Outcrops of the aeolian facies of the Tsondab Sandstone at Elim and Diep Rivier consist of two sequences of bioturbated cross-strata separated by likely formation-scale surfaces of stabilisation. Cross-strata consist of scalloped sets about 200 m in width and separated by southeast dipping bounding surfaces. Internally, sets contain reactivation surfaces of probable seasonal origin. The north to south-southeast dipping foresets define crescent shapes with a trough axis trending northeast. Although additional data are needed to define the Tsondab bedform, the outcrop data is best satisfied in computer simulations by north trending, east migrating main bedforms, which had relatively large and slow-moving dunes superimposed upon their eastern flanks and migrated to the north. Foresets dipping to the south to south-southwest at Elim suggest that superimposed dunes also occurred on the western flanks of the main bedform and migrated to the south, but that their record was largely lost with net eastward migration of the main bedform. This preliminary Tsondab model shares attributes such as trend, scale of cross-strata, and presence of scalloped sets with reactivation surfaces with computer models of the modern linear dunes in which large-scale sinuosity migrates alongcrest to the north. Differences emerge in the overall set architecture and the orientation of cross-strata and bounding surfaces, as well as the degree of vegetation that must have characterised Tsondab dunes. |
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