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8.16 Conclusion
Not a great deal of climatic information has yet come to light from studies of dunes
alone. Studies of the dunes need to be buttressed by studies of intercalated fossil
soils and of any associated fluvial and lake sediments and their associated fossils, as
was carried out in exemplary fashion more than thirty years ago in the Nebraska Sand
Hills (Ahlbrandt and Fryberger, 1980 ; Bradbury, 1980 ;Hanley, 1980 ). Although long-
distance sand transport certainly seems possible given an adequate supply of sand,
strong persistent winds and a lack of topographic obstacles, the sand deserts in the
Sahara, Australia and China appear to be quite local features with relatively little
long-distance transport of sand by wind. Desert dunes in general will not provide
a reasonably continuous or long-term record of past climate. For this, we need to
consult the record of wind-blown dust preserved both on land and in deep-sea cores,
discussed in Chapter 9 , as well as the evidence from rivers and lakes.
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