Thursday, November 10, 2011

Great Sand Dunes

The Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado is home to the tallest dunefield in North America. The dunes rise to about 750 feet tall and cover approximately 30 square miles. In geological terms the dunefield is not very old, it is estimated that the dunes started forming less then 450,000 years ago. The dunes were formed by strong winds blowing across the San Luis Valley that picked up sand that was deposited by the Rio Grande River. When the winds reached the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range they would loss power and drop the sand. Over time the sand built up into dunes and eventually created the dunefield. This process still continues to happen today and thus the dunefield is still growing.

18 comments:

Jeannelle said...

Nice shot. Was there once when I was a kid. Happy skywatching!

overtiredmum said...

Great sand dune shot - cam almost feel the heat!

Firefly the Travel Guy said...

Beautiful. I live in South Africa close to the Alexandria Dunefield which are the biggest coastal dunefield in the Southern Hemisphere.

Steffi said...

Wow!What a stunning shot!Perfect!
Have a nice weekend!

Kay L. Davies said...

I had no idea these dunes existed. Wonderful.

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie’s Guide to Adventurous Travel

Sylvia K said...

Marvelous skies and what a great backdrop for the sand dunes! Terrific capture for the day! Have a great weekend!

Sylvia

Kel said...

sand dunes in colorado!
wow
so its not all snow-capped mountains :)

great photo

Anna said...

It almost look like Namibië... ;-))
Love your shot... the sand duns withe the blue sky!
Have a great SWF and greetings from Holland,
Anna :-))

giorno26 ¸¸.•*¨*•. said...

Fantastica foto.
Il contrasto dei colori è veramente magnifico.
Buona serata :)
Myriam

KaHolly said...

Just amazing!! I've never traveled out that way and have never seen anything quite like it. It's beautiful.

hannah said...

Seems strange, but I can believe that, seeing that we in England get sand from the Sahara desert deposited on our cars from time to time. Looks beautiful.

http://graceolsson.com/blog said...

great shot

Jim said...

Terrific shot.
Sydney - City and Suburbs

Wenche said...

Nice shots :0) Didnt know there was sandunes there :0)

Nature Rambles said...

A beautiful photo.

Laurie Brandriet Keller said...

clapping, clapping, still clapping. xoxo from the prairie.

Anonymous said...

Wow - this shot is superb!

Unknown said...

super shot!

cheers,
My Third Eye