News tagged with dunes
Caltech Rover ready for rock-yard competition in Houston
(Phys.org) -- Later this week, a four-wheeled robot designed and built by Caltech undergraduate students will maneuver, apparently under its own guidance, through various challenges at the NASA Johnson Space ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
May 29, 2012 |
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Scientists measure Martian sand movement: Dune migration rates appear to be similar to those on Earth
Last year, images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured sand dunes and ripples moving across the surface of Mars—observations that challenged previously held beliefs that there was not a lot ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
May 09, 2012 |
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Scientists Investigate Cause of 'Singing Dunes'
(PhysOrg.com) -- In more than 30 locations around the world, the phenomenon of singing sand dunes has intrigued explorers, tourists, and scientists. When an avalanche occurs or even when the sand is pushed ...
Dec 15, 2009 |
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Winds of change strike Mars, too
Mysterious dark sand dunes around Mars' northern polar cap are shifting with the seasons, as carbon dioxide gas changes form and sparks landscape-altering avalanches, said a study published Thursday.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Feb 03, 2011 |
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Putting an airplane on a distant moon
(PhysOrg.com) -- In addition to its rivers, oceans, mountains, sand dunes and winds, Saturn’s moon Titan may someday share another similarity with Earth: airplanes.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jan 25, 2012 |
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Ice sheet melt identified as trigger of Big Freeze
The main cause of a rapid global cooling period, known as the Big Freeze or Younger Dryas - which occurred nearly 13,000 years ago - has been identified thanks to the help of an academic at the University of Sheffield.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Mar 31, 2010 |
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Geologists discover new class of landform -- on Mars
(PhysOrg.com) -- An odd, previously unseen landform could provide a window into the geological history of Mars, according to new research by University of Washington geologists.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 22, 2012 |
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Researchers uncover a mechanism to explain dune field patterns
In a study of the harsh but beautiful White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, University of Pennsylvania researchers have uncovered a unifying mechanism to explain dune patterns. The new work represents a contribution ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Feb 06, 2012 |
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Cassini sees the two faces of Titan's Dunes
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new analysis of radar data from NASA's Cassini mission, in partnership with the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency, has revealed regional variations among sand dunes on Saturn's ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jan 24, 2012 |
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Mice living in sandy hills quickly evolved lighter coloration
In a vivid illustration of natural selection at work, scientists at Harvard University have found that deer mice living in Nebraska's Sand Hills quickly evolved lighter coloration after glaciers deposited ...
Aug 27, 2009 |
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View from orbit of a huge white sands dust storm
It’s clear from this image of why a region in New Mexico, USA is called ‘White Sands.’ The dust plumes in this photograph taken by an astronaut on board the International Space Station show ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 01, 2012 |
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Cassini Maps Global Pattern of Titan's Dunes
(PhysOrg.com) -- Titan's vast dune fields, which may act like weather vanes to determine general wind direction on Saturn's biggest moon, have been mapped by scientists who compiled four years of radar data ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Feb 27, 2009 |
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With 'Google Earth' for Mars, explore the red planet from home
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new software tool developed by the HiRISE team in the UA's Lunar and Planetary Lab allows members of the public to download high-resolution images of the Martian landscape almost instantaneously ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 08, 2011 |
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Discovery of Indian artifacts complicates Genesis solar project
The Feb. 27 letter from the chairman of the Colorado River Indian Tribes was pleading and tough. It asked President Barack Obama to slow the federal government's "frantic pursuit" of massive solar energy projects in the Mojave ...
Technology / Energy & Green Tech
Apr 26, 2012 |
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How nature's patterns form
When people on airplanes ask Alan Newell what he works on, he tells them "flower arrangements."
Feb 18, 2011 |
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Dune
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind. The valley or trough between dunes is called a slack. A "dune field" is an area covered by extensive sand dunes. Large dune fields are known as ergs.
Some coastal areas have one or more sets of dunes running parallel to the shoreline directly inland from the beach. In most cases the dunes are important in protecting the land against potential ravages by storm waves from the sea. Although the most widely distributed dunes are those associated with coastal regions, the largest complexes of dunes are found inland in dry regions and associated with ancient lake or sea beds.
Dunes also form under the action of water flow (alluvial processes), and on sand or gravel beds of rivers, estuaries and the sea-bed.
The modern word "dune" came into English from French circa 1790. In ancient times, words cognate to "dune" probably had the meaning of a built-up hill or citadel fortification.
For more information about Dune, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
