Even though they are inanimate objects, sand dunes can 'communicate' with each other. A team from the University of Cambridge has found that as they move, sand dunes interact with and repel their downstream neighbours.
General Physics
Feb 4, 2020
14
4581
For the past year, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has been traveling through a transition zone from a clay-rich region to one filled with a salty mineral called sulfate. While the science team targeted the clay-rich region and ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 22, 2022
1
637
Contrary to the long-held belief that plants in the natural world are always in competition, new research has found that in harsh environments mature plants help smaller ones—and thrive as a result.
Plants & Animals
Nov 13, 2019
3
3251
The flow of granular materials, such as sand and catalytic particles used in chemical reactors, explains a wide range of natural phenomena, from mudslides to volcanos, and enables a broad array of industrial processes, from ...
General Physics
Apr 22, 2019
6
1039
Images snapped on July 5 by NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter on its ambitious ninth flight have offered scientists and engineers working with the agency's Perseverance Mars rover an unprecedented opportunity to scout out ...
Space Exploration
Jul 13, 2021
4
33
A team of researchers from Università di Firenze, the University of South Florida, California Institute of Technology and Princeton University has found an incidence of a quasicrystal formed during an accidental electrical ...
Just over two decades ago, as the new millennium began, it seemed that tracks left by our ancient human ancestors dating back more than about 50,000 years were excessively rare.
Archaeology
Jun 13, 2023
0
533
ESA's Mars Express has snapped the telltale traces of "spiders" scattered across the southern polar region of Mars.
Planetary Sciences
Apr 24, 2024
3
87
Water may be more widespread and recent on Mars than previously thought, based on observations of Martian sand dunes by China's rover.
Space Exploration
Apr 30, 2023
0
47
(Phys.org) —NASA research indicates hunks of frozen carbon dioxide—dry ice—may glide down some Martian sand dunes on cushions of gas similar to miniature hovercraft, plowing furrows as they go.
Space Exploration
Jun 11, 2013
1
1
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.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
