Mystery Of Singing Sand Dunes Solved

Video Credit: AGU

Science News • Videos • Explainers

[pinokosthewife]

For everyone wondering, I'll give you a clearer explanation! Yes, it's because of their vibrations, but what makes them special and capable of producing sound is their shape. Basically, all these sand grains vibrating together resonate, making these sounds. Until the friction from all their vibrations wears them down, of course, then, their sounds change and eventually, disappear as the grains are worn down. But, then, you'll always have more and the process continues! Consider it like a symphony of knives sharpening and blunting together in the wind. I hope my (very simple, based on a documentary I watched years ago) short explanation made a little more sense.

[liamcalpine]

Marco Polo and his men got so freaked out by these sounds in the Gobi desert that some began to think spirits were talking to them and actually calling them by name. They would wonder off into the desert, get lost and die. I would, too. Especially after months of being out there.

[turismoatacamensis]

I must say that to hear and feel the sing of a dune its one of the greatest experiences I ever had, and to make it more gratificant was the fact that I didnt knew what was going on when I was listening the sound, in fact at that moment I was discovering a secret of a dune in the Atacama desert.

[Praxographist]

If i heard something like this in the desert, i'd look up to see where the freakin UFO is....

[TheMayorofSpace]

this would be creepy af to hear if you were stuck out in the desert

[TakoyakiStore]

Shame this wasn't incorporated into either the Dune books or films. It would be an ominous way to tell the worms are coming but not knowing from which direction.

[denkikaminari]

Why do I find this so calming and not creepy?

[jansumi]

The consciousness of the sand itself, chanting... Wonderful..

[thingusbingus]

This is what I imagine worm sign would be in Dune. A slight hun in the air growing louder and louder until its a crashing rumble as the worm closes in

[jangofet]

i wanna sleep and meditate there. i love that sound. and the feeling. it makes me wanna dissolve into sand.

[EngPheniks]

People in Biblical times live mostly in desert regions. So it was obvious, hearing such sounds would give them that feeling that God is near.

[djbanify]

What song are the desert playing? Darude sandstorm.. :P

[MmmmYesMacaroni]

Imagine your walking in a desert alone, and you hear this

[Mortik]

Everyone who saw that curiosity Show explanation knows why it's happening.

[sleepyburr]

All the stories about people going into the desert and finding the voice of God make a little more sense now.

[zarathustra]

In a book by Efremov : The land of foam there is an episode that included this effect, men walking in the desert go mad when hearing this because they know it is a sandstorm approaching.
When I read it I thought it was made up by the author and it was surpising when I found out its real.

[originsdecoded]

Why can't we replicate this on a smaller scale? say at the beach during a windy day?
or does it need rolling hills of sand of certain height and mass? My guess is that the sand needs to be on a very large scale to produce this resonance.

[rozitamb]

its the uniform quartz (tiny particles of sand) moving ...something in the wind

[ricvilryl]

The singing sand dune: the person: huh the singing sand dune keeps huming:

[cheezemonkeyeater]

The desert is full of ghosts: confirmed.