This paper presents a speculative hypothesis that climatic change and the integration of the lower Colorado, Salt, Verde, and Gila rivers led to the development of four of Arizona's dune fields. The Parker and Casino Dune fields have been researched prior; however, the Sedona and Painted Rock Dunes are presented here as two previously unrecognized dune fields. The structure of this paper goes through each of these dune fields to (i) review current knowledge; (ii) present new insight resulting from analyses of previous soil survey mapping work; (iii) speculate on the formation hypothesis for each dune field in more detail; and (iv) detail the sorts of additional work that would test the hypotheses. While no explicit evidence connecting river integration to Arizona dune field formation is presented here, soil data, field observations, aerial imagery, and dune field proximity to integrated river systems suggest further research should be conducted on this topic.
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29 August 2023
Arizona Dune Complexes Resulting from Drainage Integration and Climatic Change: A Speculative Hypothesis
Kenzie L. Shandonay
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