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Dunes 2016

IMPORTANT DATES

May 16-19, 2017
Fifth International Planetary Dunes Workshop, Dixie State University, St. George, Utah

5th Internatinal Planetary Dunes Workshop


Final Announcement

Workshop Location and Dates

The Fifth International Planetary Dunes Workshop:  From the Bottom of the Oceans to the Outer Limits of the Solar System will be held May 16–19, 2017, in the Zion Room of the Holland Centennial Commons Building, 225 South University Avenue, Dixie State University, St. George, Utah 84770.

The purpose of this workshop is to provide a forum for discussion and exchange of new ideas and approaches to the investigation of aeolian processes that form and maintain dune fields on Earth and other planetary bodies within the solar system.

The workshop format will be similar to the four preceding workshops:  2½ days of topical discussions, a poster session/social; and a one-day field trip to Zion National Park and Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. Coral Pink Sand Dunes, located approximately 60 miles east of St. George, is composed of sediment eroded from the Navajo Sandstone, an ancient aeolianite, and provides a valuable example of recycling of aeolian sediment into new aeolian features and active bedforms. The workshop will conclude with a discussion session to review the week’s discussion and ensure capture of important insights.

Purpose and Scope

Objectives

  1. Bring together terrestrial and planetary aeolian scientists from a range of specialties (e.g. remote sensing, field study, computer modeling, laboratory experimentation).
  2. Discuss and explore observations and theories of dunes and dune formation throughout the solar system.
  3. Create a research synergy between terrestrial analog studies, remote sensing, computer simulations, and laboratory experiments.
  4. Expose and expand undergraduate and graduate students’ understanding of planetary aeolian processes.
  5. Expand aeolian analog studies to bedforms formed under water (subaqueous) which may provide better analogs for aeolian processes on planets such as Venus.

A key ingredient in the past success of these workshops has been their interdisciplinary and interplanetary approach – bringing together scientists and students who conduct field work, analyze remote sensing data, and construct computer simulations. The intent is to apply and expand this approach in the fifth workshop.

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