  Dune fields are commonly associated with periodic patterns that are among the
most recognizable landscapes on Earth and other planetary bodies. However, in
zones of limited sediment supply, where periodic dunes elongate and align in
the direction of the resultant sand flux, there has been no attempt to explain
the emergence of such a regular pattern. Here, we show, by means of numerical
simulations, that the elongation growth mechanism does not produce a pattern
with a specific wavelength. Periodic elongating dunes appear to be a
juxtaposition of individual structures, the arrangement of which is due to
regular landforms at the border of the field acting as boundary conditions.
This includes, among others, dune patterns resulting from bed instability, or
the crestline reorganization induced by dune migration. The wavelength
selection in fields of elongating dunes therefore reflects the interdependence
of dune patterns over the course of their evolution.
