Sand Dunes of the Northern Hemisphere: Distribution, Formation, Migration and Management: Volume 2: Characteristics, Dynamics and Provenance of Sand D [Paperback]

The application of recently available high-resolution satellite data for mapping and change detection and a summary of advances in techniques for characterizing the mineralogy of sand is explained.

Volume 2 of the book Sand Dunes of the Northern Hemisphere is sub-titled Characteristics, Dynamics and Provenance of Sand Dunes in the Northern Hemisphere.  It brings together a vast body of information and insight into sand dune and desert systems from North Asia, Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. Chapters from the Russian Federation include studies on dune systems within the permafrost zone and there is a case study from temperate zone dune system in coastal Japan.

Volume 2: Characteristics, Dynamics and Provenance of Sand Dunes in the Northern Hemisphere of 16 chapters in three Parts, focusses on Saharan Africa, Egypt, and Middle East and gives attention to sand mobility and encroachment with case studies from a number of countries where these matters are of concern.  We also include chapters on the remote dunes in the permafrost zone and in the hyper-arid deserts of Iran. Case studies are used to highlight the characteristics of dunes and their interaction with humans in several widely divergent settings. Volume 2 concludes with some musing on the value of study of the past as key to the future and speculates on what the future might hold in the light of a warmer and drier Earth and a rise in sea level that threaten large tracts of low-lying land with marine incursions and destruction from storm surge.

PART 4 Sand Mobility and Encroachment

The seven chapters in this Part examine the real-world impact of sand encroachment and dune migration on people and their economic activities and the health, welfare and financial implications related to destruction of infrastructure, including human habitations.