Make Positive Ripples and Show Your True Grit!

A sand dune is an accumulation of sand grains shaped into a mound or ridge by the wind. Dunes are formed when wind blows sand into a sheltered area behind an obstacle usually along the beach or in a desert.  Every dune has a windward side and a slip face. 

Each day, sand is eroded from surrounding mountains and is carried by the wind and water to the dunes. The wind deposits sand on top of each other until a small mound starts to form. As the first mound forms, more and more sand is piled up on the windward side until the dune collapses under its own weight. Sand dunes do not have any bonding agents such as clay, so the sand is loose. They can move in the direction of the wind and form hills. 

Sand dunes have high wind erodibility, high water infiltration, low moisture capacity and very low hydraulic conductivity.

The Athabasca Sand Dunes stretching 100 km along the south shore of Lake Athabasca is the largest active sand surface in Canada. The active dunes are a series of sand ridges that are slowly migrating southeast. These sand ridges are burying jack pine forests and filling small lakes. 

The tallest free standing sand dune in the US is located in Idaho.  Bruneau Dunes State Park is home to a dune which reaches 470 feet.  The Great Sand Dunes located in southern Colorado are the tallest in North America.  A few dunes here tower over 700 feet.

A few of the world’s best dunes include Huacachina in Peru, Badain Jaran Dunes in Mongolia in China, White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, Simpson Desert in Australia, Little Sahara Recreation Area in Utah, and Great Dune of Pyla in France. 

The Rub al-Khali in Saudi Arabia is the largest area of continuous sand in the world.  It occupies more than one-fourth of Saudi Arabia’s total area. The oldest desert on Earth is the Namib Desert in southwestern Africa. Many of the highest dunes are found in the Namib Sand Sea.  This desert spans 34,000 square kilometres of coastal Namibia. 

Sand dunes provide natural coastal protection against storm surges and high waves.  They can prevent or reduce coastal flooding and structural damage. Sand dunes also act as sand storage areas, supplying sand to eroded beaches and they also provide an important ecological habitat. 

Beetles, flies, moths, wasps, spiders and crickets all live in the sand.  Many of these insects feed on dune vegetation as well as prey on each other.  Some rodents can also live in sand dunes.  These rodents create complicated burrows within the dunes.  They emerge to feed on the seeds and leaves of the dune plants. 

Storms and strong winds can damage sand dunes and push them inland.  Hurricane Fiona caused a lot of damage to the sand dunes on Prince Edward Island this fall.  The other major cause of damage to dunes is people.  Foot traffic on dunes causes damage to the beach grass and other plants that hold the dune together.  Sand dunes are very fragile so it is important that we avoid walking on them.  

These are the sayings on the bookmarks called Advice from a Sand Dune.

• Soak Up The Sunshine

• Stay Loose

• Keep Moving

• Embrace the Winds of Change

• Make Positive Ripples

• Don’t Get Carried Away

• Show Your True Grit!

Here are my comments about each of these sayings.  

• Soak Up The Sunshine - Our bodies produce vitamin D when exposed to sunlight.  Vitamin D helps your body maintain calcium and prevents brittle bones. So spend about 15 minutes a day in the sun. 

• Stay Loose - Be calm and relax. 

• Keep Moving - Move more, sit less.  Keep growing and moving forward.

• Embrace the Winds of Change - No progress or true success is possible without change. Be encouraged and embrace change. 

• Make Positive Ripples - Continue to impact others in a positive way.

• Don’t Get Carried Away -  Don’t be so excited about something that you lose control of what you say or do.

• Show Your True Grit! - Sand is full of grit.  To show grit means you have courage and you show the strength of your character.

Have a great day everyone.  Make Positive Ripples and Show Your True Grit!

# living life abundantly  # published author # travelling tuesdays