Science Friday The Shape-Shifting Science Of Sand Dunes
Sep 2, 2025
Nathalie Vriend, an associate professor in mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado, studies the fascinating world of sand dunes. She shares how sand dunes transition between solid and fluid states, revealing their unique physical properties. The podcast also explores the enchanting phenomenon of singing sand dunes and the scientific principles behind their sounds. Additionally, Vriend addresses the challenges posed by mobile dunes to nearby communities and discusses innovative methods like satellite tracking used to study these dynamic geological structures.
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Childhood Dunes Sparked A Research Career
- Nathalie Vriend first encountered booming sand dunes as a child visiting dunes in the Netherlands and later pursued them in graduate work.
- Her fascination linked fluid and solid mechanics with geophysics, launching her dune research career.
Why Some Dunes Sing Loudly
- Booming dunes produce loud sounds when surface avalanches synchronously vibrate and a dune's internal resonator amplifies the noise.
- Proper surface avalanching plus the dune's resonance lets the sound carry for miles.
Dune Layers Tell Movement History
- Vriend studied mobile Barkan dunes in Qatar and saw internal layered structures like tree rings in trench cuts.
- Those layers record past avalanching activity and help reconstruct dune movement history.