British Chilean study investigates the behavior of dunes in urban centers

The study is part of a collaboration between the Faculty of Engineering and Sciences of the Adolfo Ibáñez University and the University of Cambridge. The Region of Valparaíso and Iquique present dunes in the vicinity of urban centers, representing an interest for the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, one of the oldest scientific academies, today interested in generating collaborative networks that attack contingent scientific problems, such as desertification .

For a year, the UAI Faculty of Engineering and Sciences and the BP Institute of the University of Cambridge will develop a study that seeks to understand the interaction between dunes and structures typical of urban centers, in order to anticipate environmental and social risks.dseThe academician of the Faculty of Engineering and Sciences of the Adolfo Ibáñez University, Thomas Trewhela Next to the Dr. Nathalie Vriendfrom the BP Institute of the University of Cambridge, develop a research project to evaluate different types of structures and covers in dunes and thus determine the effect that these can have on the sediment drag generated by these sedimentary structures.

The research is funded by the UK’s Royal Society, one of the oldest scientific academies, with collaborative research across science, public affairs, education and industry.

In Chile, the dunes are part of the geography of several urban centers, among them: Iquique (Cerro Dragón), Santo Domingo, Algarrobo, Concón, Ritoque and El Tabo (Gota de Leche), a situation that explains the need to study the dynamics of the dunes and how they interact with the population, as pointed out by the Chilean researcher.

The first experiments in the study were carried out in the GK Batchelor laboratory at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) at the University of Cambridge. In a complementary way, they will carry out a field that will be prepared by the UAI Faculty of Engineering and Sciences in the Valparaíso region, due to the presence of dunes near urban centers.

Tomás Trewhela, academic and researcher at the Faculty of Engineering and Sciences UAIhe pointed: “The sudden or accelerated movement of desert dunes, or other sedimentary structures, interact with urban centers and infrastructure and affects almost one billion people around the world. Although 70% of the Earth is covered by water, deserts cover more than a fifth of the Earth’s surface.

For the scholar, these areas are covered by loose sediments that, under the action of the wind, are structured in the form of ripples or dunes. “The dunes are not always stationary, as they are able to move over the desert reaching and interacting with infrastructure, urban centers and agricultural land,” he points out.

For the Chilean researcher, it is important to visualize what effects various structures may have on the transport and movement of dunes, in addition to generating potential remediations to safeguard existing environments. He adds that: “Until today there are no remedial measures when developing projects in arid areas because there is no ecological value seen in sand or desert and this must change. There are certain sedimentological balances that must be maintained by the unique type of life that these arid regions support.

In addition, it must be considered that precisely some species also control the movement of sand and the transport of sediments, so the removal of vegetation or other natural structures can also threaten the availability of sand on beaches and the transport of nutrients towards the interior” .

The UAI academic maintains that other dune systems such as the Sahara feed sediments and nutrients to very distant regions in the European Alps. In some way, altering these balances can have effects beyond our understanding. Projects like this one seek to better understand these interactions and their consequences.

According to the data cited by the academic, each year, 120,000 km2 of arable land is lost due to desertification, a situation that is intensified by climate change and the intensive use of land.

“The mobility and speed of the dunes can, however, be altered by measures, such as vegetation or other types of structures to contain their advance,” explains Trewhela. The academic points out that “being able to predict the effect that vegetation cover or the presence of surrounding infrastructure can have on the dynamics of dunes allows us to establish protection strategies for the population and preserve sedimentological balances necessary for the environment” and that is the main focus of the research.