Mini Dunes Form When Sand Stops Bouncing

Mini Dunes Form When Sand Stops Bouncing

Next time you explore a beach or a desert, look down at the sand. You might spot patches of small ripples just a few centimeters tall. Wind can shape these miniature dunes in less than half an hour and blow them away just as quickly. Unlike the processes that form larger dunes that define desert landscapes and shorelines, those that shape mini dunes have been elusive. “There have been some observations of such small, meter-scale bedforms, but no…