Lala Lallia Star Dune in Erg Chebbi, Morocco. Credit: Prof C. BristowBreakthrough study reveals the age and quick formation of star dunes, offering insights into Earths geological past.Scientists have solved the strange absence of star-shaped dunes from Earths geological history for the first time, dating one back countless years.The study by Aberystwyth University, Birkbeck, and UCL academics is the very first to date how long it took a star dune to form and examine its internal structure.Star dunes are enormous dune that owe their name to arms that spread out from a central peak. These sand pyramids, which look like stars when viewed from above, are prevalent in modern deserts including sand seas in Africa, Arabia, China, and North America.Ancient Dunes and Rapid FormationThe research reveals the oldest parts of the base of the Moroccan dune are 13,000 years of ages. The discovery that it had formed quickly in the last thousand years shocked scientists who had thought bigger dunes were far older.Believed to be the tallest dunes on Earth– with one in the Badain Jaran Desert in China reaching 300 meters high– star dunes are likewise discovered elsewhere in the solar system, on Mars and on Saturns moon Titan.Despite being common today, star dunes have nearly never been found in the geological record. Their absence has bemused researchers as previous deserts are a typical part of the history of Earth, maintained in rocks deep underground.Satellite image of Lala Lallia star dune from Google Earth 2023 Maxar Technologies with the dune crests marked by rushed lines, the GPR profiles as solid lines, and numbered circles showing sample areas. Credit: Scientific Reports, DOI: 10.1038/ s41598-024-53485-3Published in the journal Scientific Reports, the new study dated the foundations of a star dune in the southeast of Morocco referred to as Lala Lallia, suggesting greatest spiritual point in the Berber language, to around 13,000 years old.The dune sits in the Erg Chebbi area of the Sahara Desert near the border with Algeria, an area featured in TV series like SAS Rogue Heroes and blockbuster movies such as The Mummy and Sahara.Geological Significance and Technological AdvancesThe research study reveals that the sand pyramid reached its existing 100-meter height and 700-meter width due to fast development in the past thousand years as it moved gradually to the west.Professor Geoff Duller, from the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences at Aberystwyth University, stated:” This research is really the case of the missing dune– it had actually been a mystery why we could not see them in the geological record. Since of new innovation that we can now begin to reveal their tricks, its just.” These findings will probably shock a great deal of people as we can see how rapidly this enormous dune formed, and that it is moving across the desert at about 50 cm a year. These great star dunes are among the natural wonders of the world.” Professor Charlie Bristow of Birkbeck and UCL added:” Using ground permeating radar to look inside this star dune has actually permitted us to reveal how these tremendous dunes form, and to establish a brand-new design so geologists understand better what to try to find in the rock record to recognize these amazing desert functions.” The scientists development research recommends the star dune formed at around the same time as the Younger Dryas occasion, an abrupt cooling duration in Earths history. It also exposes that the dune stopped growing for a period of 8,000 years.Pottery discovered at the website also suggests wetter conditions, possibly an enlarged monsoon, that stabilized the dune before the onset of a terrific drought.The research study used luminescence dating techniques developed at Aberystwyth University to find the last time minerals in the sand were exposed to sunshine to determine their age.Professor Duller of Aberystwyth University included:” Its quite an advantage to think that the luminescence dating strategies established here in Aberystwyth are opening some of the tricks of the most challenging environments in the world. They are offering us an insight into geology that could have larger implications consisting of geological deposits that are utilized for water resources and storing carbon.” Professor Dullers most current discovery utilizes the exact same luminous dating strategy he used to discover the earliest wooden structure in the world– research published in the journal Nature last year.Reference: “Structure and chronology of a star dune at Erg Chebbi, Morocco, exposes why star dunes are seldom recognised in the rock record” by C. S. Bristow, and G. A. T. Duller, 4 March 2024, Scientific Reports.DOI: 10.1038/ s41598-024-53485-3.
