Professor Ian Livingstone, from the School of Science and Technology, will be presenting some of his recent research in the Mojave Desert at a seminar on Wednesday 4th February at 1pm. The seminar will be held in Newton NW205 on Avenue Campus and all are welcome.

Title & abstract:
Wind-blown sand in complex terrain:
a case study from the Mojave Desert, California

We are familiar enough with images of wind-blown desert sand producing apparently endless vistas of dunes – the great desert sand seas. But sometimes sand is blown through more complex, hilly or mountainous terrain, and sometimes that sand accumulates against the hills or mountains. Like any sediment, the deposits retain information which can be useful for describing and explaining past environmental conditions. However, they are only of value if we understand the processes by which the deposits came to be formed and we have some idea of when the deposition happened. This seminar uses the example of the Mojave Desert in California to provide an exploration of what we know about the mechanism by which sand is transported and deposited in complex terrain, and explores some of the difficulties of trying to ascertain the age of the wind-blown sand deposits.

Professor Livingstone is Professor of Physical Geography and Head of the Graduate School at UN.