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C. S. Breed

Publications and source records attributed to C. S. Breed.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2012

Eolian features in the Western Desert of Egypt and some applications to Mars

Relations of landform types to wind regimes, bedrock composition, sediment supply, and topography are shown by field studies and satellite photographs of the Western Desert of Egypt. This desert, which lies at the core of the largest hyperarid region on earth, provides analogs of Martian wind-formed features. These include sand dunes, alternating light and dark streaks, knob ‘shadows,’ and yardangs. Surface particles have been segregated by wind into deposits (dunes, sand sheets, and light streaks) that can be differentiated by their grain size distributions, surface shapes, and colors. Throughgoing sand of mostly fine to medium grain size is migrating southward in longitudinal dune belts and barchan chains whose long axes lie parallel to the prevailing northerly winds, but topographic variations such as scarps and depressions strongly influence the zones of deposition and dune morphology. Sand from the longitudinal dunes on the plains is commonly redistributed into barchans in the depressions. These barchans are generally simple crescents that are morphologically similar to many of the dunes seen on Viking orbiter pictures of the north polar sand sea on mars. Light streaks are depositional features consisting of dune belts and elongate sheets of coarse to medium sand and granules. Intervening dark streaks are erosional features consisting of strips of desert-varnished bedrock and lag gravel surfaces exposed between the sand deposits. The shape of both light and dark streaks is controlled by wind flow around topographic highs. Dark zones (shadows) in the lee of mountains, hills, and knobs are erosional products from the topographic highs; they change shape only in response to movement of the adjacent lighter-colored sand deposits. Streamlined yardangs carved in crystalline limestone constitute one of the largest yardang fields on earth. Yardangs occur also in sandstone of the Nubian Series and in lacustrine sediments. The variables that affect the patterns of wind erosion and deposition in the Western Desert are topographic effects on wind velocities and directions, resistance of the bedrock, sand supply, and climatic change with time; vegetation is essentially absent and is not a controlling factor.

Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗
USGS1999

The importance of SAR wavelength in penetrating blow sand in Northern Arizona

Multifrequency and polarimetric Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) images of a sand streak in northern Arizona demonstrate the ability of C- (6-cm wavelength), L- (24 cm), and P-band (68 cm) radar signals to backscatter, respectively, from increasingly greater depths reaching 2 m or more in active blow sand. The studied sand streak, located on a salient of Ward Terrace at lat 35??48.4'N and long 111??15.0'W, is sourced in the normally dry Little Colorado River channel and migrates northeastward toward the Moenkopi Plateau Scarp. The sand streak is 'radar dark' compared to the 'radar-bright' surface of Ward Terrace on all C-band images. It is, however, penetrated completely at P-band and is invisible on these images. The sand streak is recognizable on the LHH image but is poorly defined on the LHV image. High resolution AIRSAR images constitute the primary data set analyzed; in addition, a C-band radar image acquired by the European Remote Sensing (ERS) satellite is also presented. The spaceborne image data confirms the results of the aircraft data at C-band.Multifrequency and polarimetric Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) images of a sand streak in northern Arizona demonstrate the ability of C- (6-cm wavelength), L- (24 cm), and P-band (68 cm) radar signals to backscatter, respectively, from increasingly greater depths reaching 2 m or more in active blow sand. The studied sand streak, located on a salient of Ward Terrace at lat 35??48.4???N and long 111??15.0???W, is sourced in the normally dry Little Colorado River channel and migrates northeastward toward the Moenkopi Plateau Scarp. The sand streak is `radar dark' compared to the `radar-bright' surface of Ward Terrace on all C-band images. It is, however, penetrated completely at P-band and is invisible on these images. The sand streak is recognizable on the LHH image but is poorly defined on the LHV image. High resolution AIRSAR images constitute the primary data set analyzed; in addition, a C-band radar image acquired by the European Remote Sensing (ERS) satellite is also presented. The spaceborne image data confirms the results of the aircraft data at C-band.

Remote Sensing of Environment↗
USGS1998

AIRSAR studies of woody shrub density in semiarid rangeland: Jornada del Muerto, New Mexico

This study evaluates the use of polarimetric Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) data to assess woody shrub density in a semiarid site where the vegetation consists primarily of varied mixtures of herbaceous vegetation and shrubs. AIRSAR data and field observations of vegetation cover and growth form-composition were obtained for 59 sites in the Jornada del Muerto plain in southern New Mexico. Radar signature measures examined were C-, L- and P-band backscattering coefficients (??0) for HH, HV and W polarizations, ratios of ??0HH and ??0HV to ??0VV, and the HH-VV polarization phase difference and correlation coefficient. The most effective measure for estimation of shrub density was L-band ??0HV, which distinguished among shrub density classes with no misclassification. Sensitivity of this measure to small amounts of shrub cover was indicated by successful separation of sites with <1% shrub cover from sites with 1-5% cover. Separability of shrub density classes was generally least for C-band signature measures. A distinctive radar signature was exhibited by dense stands of Yucca elata, a semitreelike plant with uniformly thick ???10 cm diameter) fibrous stems. Yucca sites were distinguished from others by their high P-band ??0HV relative to L-band ??0HV. The results are largely explained by the greater sensitivity of lounger wavelengths to larger canopy structural elements. L-band ??0HV and other measures responsive to canopy volume scattering were more strongly related to shrub than to herbaceous plant cover because woody shrub canopies have numerous stems of the intermediate size to which L-band is most sensitive, whereas stems of this size are mostly lacking in herbaceous canopies. The uniform-diameter stems of yucca have larger dimensions to which P-band is more sensitive than L-band.This study evaluates the use of polarimetric Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) data to assess woody shrub density in a semiarid site where the vegetation consists primarily of varied mixtures of herbaceous vegetation and shrubs. AIRSAR data and field observations of vegetation cover and growth form-composition were obtained for 59 sites in the Jornada del Muerto plain in southern New Mexico. Radar signature measures examined were C-, L- and P-band backscattering coefficients (??0) for HH, HV and VV polarizations, ratios of ??0HH and ??0HV to ??0VV, and the HH-VV polarization phase difference and correlation coefficient. The most effective measure for estimation of shrub density was L-band ??0HV, which distinguished among shrub density classes with no misclassification. Sensitivity of this measure to small amounts of shrub cover was indicated by successful separation of sites with <1% shrub cover from sites with 1-5% cover. Separability of shrub density classes was generally least for C-band signature measures. A distinctive radar signature was exhibited by dense stands of Yucca elata, a semitreelike plant with uniformly thick (???10 cm diameter) fibrous stems. Yucca sites were distinguished from others by their high P-band ??0HV relative to L-band ??0HV. The results are largely explained by the greater sensitivity of longer wavelengths to larger canopy structural elements. L-band ??0HV and other measures responsive to canopy volume scattering were more strongly related to shrub than to herbaceous plant cover because woody shrub canopies have numerous stems of the intermediate size to which L-band is most sensitive, whereas stems of this size are mostly lacking in herbaceous canopies. The uniform-diameter stems of yucca have larger dimensions to which P-band is more sensitive than L-band.

Remote Sensing of Environment↗
USGS1995

Geometeorological data collected by the USGS Desert Winds Project at Gold Spring, Great Basin desert, northeastern Arizona, 1979-1992

The primary purpose of the Desert Winds Project (DWP) is to obtain high-resolution meteorological data and related surface geological and vegetation data for natural (e.g., uncultivated) desert sites where wind is or has been a major erosive or depositional force. The objectives are twofold: (1) to provide the detailed field measurements needed to carry out quantitative studies of wind as an agent of surface geologic change; and (2) to establish a baseline for defining the 'normal' range of climatic conditions that can be expected to occur on a decadal time scale, in areas considered representative of the major American deserts. The Gold Spring locality was selected to represent that part of the Great Basin Desert that extends into northeastern Arizona. The long-term goal for acquiring and analyzing the Desert Winds Project data is to use them to address problems of land resource degradation by wind, whether resulting from climatic variation aridification) or human activities (desertification), or both (see techinfo.doc).

Arizona↗
USGS1993

Surficial geology of the Safsaf region, south-central Egypt, derived from remote-sensing and field data

We used a decorrelation-stretched image of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) Bands 1, 4, and 7 and field data to map and describe the main surficial units in the hyperarid Safsaf region in south-central Egypt. We show that the near-infrared bands on Landsat TM, which are sensitive to very subtle changes in mineralogy common to arid regions, significantly improve the geologist's capability to discriminate geologic units in desert regions. These data also provide the spatial and spectral information necessary to determine the migration patterns and provenance of eolian materials. The Safsaf area was the focus of our post flight field studies using Shuttle Imaging Radar (SIR) data following the discovery of buried paleochannels in North Africa. Most of the channels discernible on SIR images are not expressed in TM data, but traces of a few channels are present in both the SIR and the TM data within the Wadi Safsaf area. Here we present a detailed digital examination of the SIR and the TM-band reflectance and reflectance-ratio data at three locations of the more obvious surface expressions of the buried channels. Our results indicate that the TM expressions of the channels are not purely topographic but are more compositional in nature. Two possibilities may account for the TM expressions of the buried channels: 1) concentrations of windblown, iron-rich materials that accumulated along subtle curvilinear topograpohic traps, or 2) curvilinear exposures of an iron-rich underlying unit of the flat sand sheet.

Safsaf region↗
USGS1989

Uranium-series dated authigenic carbonates and Acheulian sites in southern Egypt

Field investigations in southern Egypt have yielded Acheulian artifacts in situ in authigenic carbonate deposits (CaCO 3 -cemented alluvium) along the edges of now-aggraded paleovalleys (Wadi Arid and Wadi Safsaf). Uranium-series dating of 25 carbonate samples from various localities as far apart as 70 kilometers indicates that widespread carbonate deposition occurred about 45, 141 and 212 ka (thousand years ago). Most of the carbonate appears to have been precipitated from groundwater, which suggests that these three episodes of deposition may be related to late Pleistocene humid climates that facilitated human settlement in this now hyperarid region. Carbonate cements from sediments containing Acheulian artifacts provide a minimum age of 212 ka for early occupation of the paleovalleys.

southern Egypt↗
USGS1986

Use of dust storm observations on satellite images to identify areas vulnerable to severe wind erosion

Blowing dust is symptomatic of severe wind erosion and deterioration of soils in areas undergoing dessication and/or devegetation. Dust plumes on satellite images can commonly be traced to sources in marginally arable semiarid areas where protective lag gravels or vegetation have been removed and soils are dry, as demonstrated for the Portales Valley, New Mexico. Images from Landsat and manned orbiters such as Skylab and the Space Shuttle are useful for illustrating the regional relations of airborne dust plumes to source areas. Geostationary satellites such as GOES are useful in tracking the time-histories of episodic dust storms. These events sometimes go unrecognized by weather observers and are the precursors of long-term land degradation trends. In areas where soil maps and meteorological data are inadequate, satellite images provide a means for identifying problem areas where measures are needed to control or mitigate wind erosion. ?? 1986 D. Reidel Publishing Company.

Climatic Change↗
USGS1982

Subsurface valleys and geoarcheology of the eastern Sahara revealed by shuttle radar

The shuttle imaging radar (SIR-A) carried on the space shuttle Columbia in November 1981 penetrated the extremely dry Selima Sand Sheet, dunes, and drift sand of the eastern Sahara, revealing previously unknown buried valleys, geologic structures, and possible Stone Age occupation sites. Radar responses from bedrock and gravel surfaces beneath windblown sand several centimeters to possibly meters thick delineate sand- and alluvium-filled valleys, some nearly as wide as the Nile Valley and perhaps as old as middle Tertiary. The now-vanished major river systems that carved these large valleys probably accomplished most of the erosional stripping of this extraordinarily flat, hyperarid region. Underfit and incised dry wadis, many superimposed on the large valleys, represent erosion by intermittent running water, probably during Quaternary pluvials. Stone Age artifacts associated with soils in the alluvium suggest that areas near the wadis may have been sites of early human occupation. The presence of old drainage networks beneath the sand sheet provides a geologic explanation for the locations of many playas and present-day oases which have been centers of episodic human habitation. Radar penetration of dry sand and soils varies with the wavelength of the incident signals (24 centimeters for the SIR-A system), incidence angle, and the electrical properties of the materials, which are largely determined by moisture content. The calculated depth of radar penetration of dry sand and granules, based on laboratory measurements of the electrical properties of samples from the Selima Sand Sheet, is at least 5 meters. Recent (September 1982) field studies in Egypt verified SIR-A signal penetration depths of at least 1 meter in the Selima Sand Sheet and in drift sand and 2 or more meters in sand dunes.

eastern Sahara↗
USGS1977

Terrestrial analogs of the Hellespontus dunes, Mars

Geomorphic features in the Hellespontus region, Mars, were compared with dunes of the crescentic ridge type in numerous terrestrial sand seas quantitatively by dimensional analysis of dune lengths, widths, and wavelengths. Mean values for the Hellespontus dunes are close to mean values derived from measurements of all sampled terrestrial sand seas. Terrestrial analogs of form and areal distribution of the Hellespontus dunes are shown by comparison of scale ratios derived from the measurements. Dunes of similar form occur in South West Africa, in Pakistan, in the southeastern Arabian peninsula, in the Sahara, in eastern USSR and northern China, and in western North America. Terrestrial analogs closest to form and areal distribution of the Hellespontus dunes are in the Kara Kum Desert, Turkmen SSR, and in the Ala Shan (Gobi) Desert, China.

Icarus↗