In 1957, Frank Herbert was a journalist and writer of short stories, on his way to Florence, Oregon to do an article about the U. S. Department of Agriculture's attempts to control sand dunes that were shifting. The USDA was searching for something to stabilize the dunes, and they came upon European beach grass. Herbert's research was for an article tentatively titled "They Stopped The Moving Sands." The article was never completed, but his research of dune stabilization lead to larger ecological matters, and eventually the novel Dune. This year marks the 45th anniversary that novel. The world of dunes, both fictional and real, has changed quite a bit in the years. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Apr 22, 2010 - 101 comments

Pathological geomorphology, the blog. Featuring: dunes vs. river, parabolic [not Barchan] dunes, annular drainage, salt! glaciers, thermokarst, and another structurally controlled lake.
posted by ennui.bz on Apr 3, 2010 - 22 comments

The mating habits of barchan sand dunes.
posted by homunculus on Dec 25, 2003 - 2 comments