Booming sands of the Mojave Desert and the Basin and Range Province, California

Abstract

The phenomenon of acoustically active desert sand dunes has been recorded since ancient times (1). These dunes are usually known in the present day as booming, barking, roaring, or singing sands. The most striking example of the phenomenon is associated with the displacement, on steep slopes exceeding the angle of shear of a large area of unstable sand. As the sand moves downhill a strong and persistent vibration is set up generating a readily noticeable shaking of the surrounding (undisplaced) sand, as well as a loud and pure audible tone similar to that made by a low-flying propellor aircraft. The sand displacement may occur naturally, or be induced by the observer. A list of references to old observations together with a recent study of the phenomenon at Sand Mountain, Nevada, may be found in ref. (2, 3). The present paper deals with the acoustic properties of sand from several sites in the Mojave Desert of California and from the Basin and Range Province of California and (in one case) western Nevada, See Fig. 1.