Tag Archives: dunes

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve

Nestled against the western slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of south-central Colorado are the tallest sand dunes in North America. Covering 30 square miles and rising to 750 feet in height, the dunes are the centerpiece in a … Continue reading

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White Sands National Monument

Covering nearly 300 square miles of the Chihuahuan Desert, White Sands National Monument in south-central New Mexico preserves the largest gypsum sand dune field in the world. I was fortunate enough to see this natural wonder on a college geology trip back … Continue reading

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Mojave National Preserve

After a week of work in California, my coworkers and I spent the first part of our day off visiting Death Valley National Park. From there we continued our whirlwind Mojave Desert tour through Mojave National Preserve. We limited ourselves … Continue reading

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Death Valley National Park Revisited

I first visited Death Valley National Park in California a couple of years ago on an undergraduate geology field trip. Since then it’s been one of my favorite national parks for a number of reasons. First, it’s a vast, remote expanse … Continue reading

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Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Last Saturday my wife and I visited Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, completing our collection of all four national lakeshores (the others being Pictured Rocks, Apostle Islands, and Sleeping Bear Dunes). Unlike the other three lakeshores, Indiana Dunes is in a … Continue reading

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Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Revisited

Back in May I visited Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore between Munising and Grand Marais, Michigan. On that trip my friend and I headed up to Isle Royale National Park for four days of backpacking, and Pictured Rocks was just a … Continue reading

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Death Valley: The Devil’s Cornfield

One interesting location in Death Valley is The Devil’s Cornfield.  The plants here aren’t corn, they’re arrowweed (Pluchea sericea, Asteraceae). From what I understand, this plant gets its name because native Americans used its straight woody shoots in the construction … Continue reading

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Textbook Cross-Bedding

One stop on my final undergraduate geology trip this March included a day at Zion National Park, located in southwestern Utah.  As I mentioned with Death Valley, there is a lot of stuff to talk about here and more will … Continue reading

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