Colorado's Great Sand Dunes


	Colorado's Great Sand Dunes

Rustee

3-23-2008 4:09 AM

362 views

tags:

nature, colorado, geology

Rustee says:

Notice in the first pic the semi-buried branches. The bulk of the dunes is stationary, but there are "escape dunes" that can migrate, sometimes daily, and can create patches of ghost forest.

This clip inspired by this one, and by experiencing them firsthand.

2 Comments |

Add a Comment

3-23-2008 4:23 AM

raven714

I was there a few months ago, pretty amazing.

3-26-2008 1:46 AM

merrie

Great pictures. It really does look ghostly.

Login to Comment. Not a member yet? Sign up

View the Top Clips from March 23, 2008

Embed This Clip In Your Site...

<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/737ae4e8-4659-485c-b15d-16c9851e5d63/0DF5FCA4-6F1A-4224-ACEF-0B5573E42449/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.sangres.com/nationalparks/sanddunes/index.htm" href="http://www.sangres.com/nationalparks/sanddunes/index.htm" style="font-size: 11px;">www.sangres.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sangres.com/nationalparks/sanddunes/index.htm"><div align="center"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.sangres.com/img/024154E4-CBEB-4846-8700-AACF3E2B51BD" alt="Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sangres.com/nationalparks/sanddunes/index.htm"><B>Great Sand Dunes</B>, the tallest sand dunes in North America. The dunes cover approximately 39 square miles and rise to almost 750' above the valley floor.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sangres.com/nationalparks/sanddunes/index.htm"><P>The dunes are the product of the wind and rain eroding the <A href="http://www.sangres.com/nationalparks/sanddunes/../../mountains/sanjuans.htm" class="link">San Juan</A> and <A href="http://www.sangres.com/nationalparks/sanddunes/../../mountains/sangres.htm" class="link">Sangre de Cristo Mountains</A> that ring the San Luis Valley. They have collected here because the prevailing winds across the valley blow in this direction and meet winds blowing in the opposite direction. The sand drops to the valley floor and is held in place by water flowing from the Sangre de Cristo's. So over the course of millenia, the dunes have built up to where they are today. And tomorrow they will be different because the wind still blows, the sand still moves and the deposits of sand still grow.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sangres.com/nationalparks/sanddunes/index.htm"><P>The dunes are like continually changing sculptures. Overall, they maintain a remarkably stable form because they are so moist throughout (from the rain and snow). But the surface layers of sand dry and flow with the wind in ever-changing patterns.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sangres.com/nationalparks/sanddunes/index.htm"><div align="center"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.sangres.com/img/F0989553-0354-4E8C-AC19-6E4DA18AE913" alt="Great Sand Dunes National Park" /></div></blockquote><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/clip-icon.gif" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.nps.gov/grsa/naturescience/sanddunes.htm" href="http://www.nps.gov/grsa/naturescience/sanddunes.htm" style="font-size: 11px;">www.nps.gov</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.nps.gov/grsa/naturescience/sanddunes.htm"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.nps.gov/img/9E11CCEC-6D7D-45DD-BEFB-0AEBAB399F23" alt="Great Sand Dunes and Sangre de Cristo Mountains" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.nps.gov/grsa/naturescience/sanddunes.htm"><div align="center"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.nps.gov/img/7A17FC6E-D5DB-47E0-ABE9-9D27B3885322" alt="Migrating dune on sand sheet" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.nps.gov/grsa/naturescience/sanddunes.htm"><div align="center"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.nps.gov/img/FEB6DED2-307C-4F4C-B82D-7A3C5CB5D0AC" alt="Dune and Sangre de Cristo Mountains" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.nps.gov/grsa/naturescience/sanddunes.htm"><div align="center"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.nps.gov/img/822B6C8B-9D33-4ABF-AE54-EB7D64EDDF13" alt="Medano Creek" /></div></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/0DF5FCA4-6F1A-4224-ACEF-0B5573E42449/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

Clipmarks: Home; New Clips; Top Clips; Dashboard

Popular Topics: News; Life; Science; Technology; Entertainment

Get Started: Sign Up; Install Clipping Tool; How Clipping Works; Clip-to-Blog™; ClipSearch

Tools and Resources: FAQ; ClipWeek; Top Clippers; Top Tags; Site Map

About Clipmarks: About Us; Contact; Blog; Copyright; Privacy; EULA

Search Options

Related Clips

More clips from Rustee

Today's Top Clips