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Strataday Saturday 001

A diversity of dunes! What is going on here and why? What dune field is this? What’s the prominent wind direction? The lat/lon at lower left is a huge help and visiting the location allows you to scroll around and zoom in to observe further details.

Scroll down for interpretation.

Strataday Saturday 001 Interpretation

White Sands, New Mexico

This is the White Sands dune field of southwestern New Mexico. Sand composition is dominated by gypsum (~98%) and White Sands represents the largest dune field in the world at 275 sq. mi. Wind direction is generally from the WSW to ENE. Dune types in the area range from domal, transverse ridge, barchanoid ridge, isolated barchan, and parabolic, reflecting the decrease in grain supply from west to east.