Low-angle eolian deposits in coastal settings: significant Rocky Mountain exploration targets

In inland dune fields such as Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, low-angle eolian deposits areally constitute more than 90% of all eolian deposits whereas high-angle eolian deposits are less than 10% there. Comparison of the Saudi Arabian coastal dunes to morphologically similar inland dunes at White Sands, New Mexico, and in the Nebraska Sand Hills suggest that minor variations in wind regime strongly affect the internal structures of barchan/barchanoid ridge dunes. The morphology and internal structures of the isolated barchanoid dune or derivative bedforms provide an analog model for previously enigmatic eolianite petroleum reservoirs that display dune morphology and which consist large of low-angle, variably dipping eolian strata. -Authors