Death of a sand sea: an active aeolian erg systematically buried by the Etendeka flood basalts of NW Namibia

Abstract

Here we report on a ‘fossilized’ sand sea that was progressively engulfed by the basal Etendeka flood basalts in NW Namibia. Preserved relict aeolian landforms include transverse barchanoid dunes and isolated barchan dunes. Present‐day preferential erosion of the lava flows exhumes relict aeolian bedforms preserved in the position in which they were migrating at the time of burial ( c. 133 Ma). A passive eruption style of inflated pahoehoe flows has preserved the bedforms without significant deformation. The sediment interlayers record a decrease in sand supply and a change in palaeowind direction, which may have been driven by the ongoing break‐up of west Gondwana, or may be a direct result of the widespread volcanism itself.