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	Wikinfo \| Sand
		Sand is a naturally occurring, finely divided rock, comprised of particles ranging in size from 0.063 to 2 mm.
		Sand is transported by wind or water and deposited in the form of beaches, dunes, sand spits, sand bars, and the like.
		Sand is often a principal component of the aggregate used in the preparation of concrete.
	www.wikinfo.org /wiki.php?title=sand (299 words)

	Singing to the tune of sand
		Singing dunes are one of the most puzzling and impressive natural phenomena.
		Using sand shipped from the Ghord Lahmar region in Morocco to their lab, Douady and colleagues found they could produce notes from the sand simply by pushing the sand grains together by hand or using a metal blade.
		Grains that sing are round with a smooth coating of silica gel, while grains that are wet or don't have this layer do not emit a sound.
	www.iop.org /News/news_6581.html (378 words)

	Singing sand - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Singing sand or barking sand is sand that emits sounds of either high or low frequency under pressure.
		The sound emission is usually triggered by wind passing over dunes or by walking on the sand.
		The sand grains have to be round and between 0.1 and 0.5 mm in diameter
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Singing_sand (145 words)

	Singing Sands
		If the sands of the desert speak, it were strange indeed were their voice not heard in the illimitable solitudes of Central Asia, where pilgrims for centuries have wended their patient way across the wastes, amid every variety of formation that sand, under the influence of wind or climate, could assume.
		Concluding that the sliding sand was the cause of the sounds, not an effect of the vibrations which they occasioned, he climbed to the top of one of the declivities, and, sliding down, exerted himself with hands and feet to set the sand in motion.
		The singing sands are, therefore, all subjected to periodical contact with the water of the lake and are moistened and washed by that water.
	www.iras.ucalgary.ca /~volk/sylvia/Sands.htm (17566 words)

	Dune tunes...the greatest hits - earth - 17 September 2005 - New Scientist
		IT MIGHT not knock Coldplay or Kanye West off the top of charts, but physicists who say they have cracked the riddle of "singing" sand dunes are compiling a CD of sand music.
		Sand dunes in certain parts of the world are notorious for the noises they make as sand avalanches down their sides.
		The singing grains were round with a smooth coating of silicon, iron and manganese, which probably formed on the sand when the dunes once lay beneath an ancient ocean.
	www.newscientist.com /channel/earth/dn8014 (589 words)

	Rhode Island Beach Sand Composition:
		Unfortunately, the sands react sensitively to air and sea water pollution, and may actually act as a sensor for the presence of pollution.
		Therefore, the quality of the sound producing property of singing sand on the beach is a sign that shows purity of sea water.
		One ton of sand (whose millions of grains have been sorted to make sure each one is about 0.13 millimeters), flows from the upper bulb to the lower bulb.
	www.ed.uri.edu /homepage/projects/ocean/sand4.htm (1231 words)

	Singing and Booming Sand Dunes - A
		Sand at the Kelso Dunes traveled 35 miles (56 km) from the delta area of the Mojave River where it emptied into the Pleistocene lake basin now occupied by Soda Dry Lake east of Afton Canyon, the terminus of the Mojave River.
		Sand Mountain is a terminal, seif dune complex located at the margin of Four Mile Flat playa approximately 3 miles (5 km) east of U.S. Highway 50, 18 miles (25 km) southeast of Fallon, Nevada (Four Mile Flat 7½-minute quadrangle, Lat.
		Bagnold, R. The shearing and dilation of dry sand and the "singing" mechanism.
	www.schweich.com /sbdA.html (3115 words)

	The Virtual Sandbox - Sand Facts
		A sand sample of known weight is passed through a set of sieves of known mesh sizes.
		Often referred to as singing or booming sand, this rare sand produces a tone when walked on or blown around by the wind.
		Singing sand is becoming harder and harder to find as modern pollution tends to coat the sand particles and destroy its ability to produce sound.
	www.ajaster.com /Sandbox/faq.html (345 words)

	[No title] (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		Musical sand is desert or beach silica that has the right abrasive qualities to make a variety of sounds when it moves over itself.
		Singing sand on beaches is a fairly small scale phenomenon compared to 'booming sand' which is found in desert regions hosting very large sand dunes.
		The ancient manuscript describes a mysterious sand mountain as follows: "When you ride a horse or walk on the sand dune, the sound of stepping on the sand is so loud that it reaches several dozen miles.
	www.sandboard.com /drdune/ask/ask2.htm (681 words)

	LiveScience.com - Singing Sand Dunes: The Mystery of Desert Music
		The sand must be sufficiently dry for the singing to occur.
		Although sand avalanches were known to be the cause of the singing, the exact mechanism was still unclear.
		By measuring vibrations in the sand and air, Andreotti was able to detect surface waves on the sand that emanated from the avalanche at a relatively slow speed of about 130 feet per second (40 meters per second).
	www.livescience.com /forcesofnature/050111_singing_dunes.html (654 words)

	W. P. Carey MBA - Executive Program - Arizona State University: Singing sand dunes (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		It is well-known that sand dunes make a noise but the dynamics that create this sound had so far been unexplained.
		"Singing dunes are one of the most puzzling and impressive natural phenomena I have ever encountered," says Andreotti.
		Physicist Andreotti was able to show that it is a result of vibrations induced by the avalanche of sand grains crashing into each other.
	www.wpcareymbaexecs.com /main/2004/12/singing_sand_du.html (240 words)

	Archive of Astronomy Questions and Answers
		Singing Sands Apparently there are several locations throughout the world where desert sand dunes composed of very minute grains, produce sounds as they move that can appear as musical notes, pitches, booms or other non abrasive sounds.
		They propose from experiments with various grades of fine sand and sand powers, that many singing sands are well-sorted with sizes from 100 to 500 microns, round shapes, and high in quartz content.
		They discovered that sands that do not sing can be made to do so by grinding the grains in a mill, removing the 'fines' and adding water to surface polish the grains.
	www.astronomycafe.net /qadir/q2650.html (861 words)

	ACEC BLM Sand Mountain (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		Sand Mountain is known as a “singing sand dune” and is one of only seven sand dune areas in North America known to emit a resonating sound when sand is dislodged from the dune face (Lindsay, 1976).
		Sand Mountain is unique in its formation and characteristics with endemic invertebrate species which are found nowhere else in the world, indicating a natural process not found elsewhere which developed the unique properties found at Sand Mountain.
		The Sand Mountain Dune Ecosystem meets the “relevance” and “importance” criteria, qualifying it for nomination as an ACEC and should be included into the Churchill County Plan Amendment for further analysis and consideration.
	www.sandmountain-nv.org /acec_blm_sand_mountain.htm (3863 words)

	Natural History Magazine \| Editor’s Pick from the Past
		Thomas was similarly startled by a curious note emitted from the sand as his camel trod on it, but the tribesman at his side, a Murri who was quite familiar with the phenomenon, could only give as an explanation some dark activity in the uppermost of the seven underworlds.
		These singing sands of southern Arabia have only become known to science this century, but it has been truly said that there is nothing new under the sun.
		The note emitted by the desert sand is much lower than that of the beach sand and at a distance of 600 yards has been likened to the rumble of thunder.
	www.naturalhistorymag.com /editors_pick/1947_09_pick.html (2162 words)

	Secret of the Booming Dunes (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		Likewise, people playing in sand dunes have found that pushing sand in different ways gives various notes: Scooting on your rump down a dune, pushing the sand downhill with your feet, triggers a low booming noise (link to movie) around 50 to 300 hertz (the low end of a piano scale).
		Previous studies indicated that in natural avalanches on singing dunes, the sand grains' size is linked to the frequency of sound it puts out: To make the booming sound, the grains have to be similarly sized, well-rounded—but not overly polished—dry and free of dust.
		While Douady and colleagues contend it is a thin layer of the sliding sand, Andreotti sticks by his previous work, which suggests the collisions in the avalanche set a much larger area of the dune vibrating, and this greater section emits the sound.
	masonmade.com /singing_dunes.html (625 words)

	Singing Dunes, Southern Kazakhstan: Travel Info
		Another unique wonder of nature is the Singing Dunes, 182-km northeast of Almaty, on the right bank of the Ili river.
		The scarcely perceptible movement of sand sliding down the slope causes the humming and vibration.
		The friction caused by the movement of dry grains of sand, combined with the dry air, electrifies them, causing the vibration.
	www.advantour.com /kazakhstan/southern/singing-dunes.htm (103 words)

	Stupid Question ™ (via CobWeb/3.1 planetlab2.cs.umd.edu) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		—A.S. “Singing sands” are a really neat natural mystery: relatively easy to experience first-hand and with a basic mechanism that is obvious, yet still baffling.
		In all cases, squeaking sand is visually indiscernible from regular, silent sand.
		The mechanics of sand avalanches are poorly understood, compounding the mystery.
	archives.stupidquestion.net.cob-web.org:8888 /sq22703singingsand.html (473 words)

	Singing Sand - - science news articles online technology magazine articles Singing Sand (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		While most sands typically consist of about 50 percent silica and a mixture of other minerals, booming sands were 95 percent silica and also tended to be slightly moist from night air.
		Goldsack noticed that grains from singing sands had a pearly, lustrous quality, suggesting that something about their surface was unique.
		They examined the sand under an infrared spectrometer, which measures the characteristic wavelength of light emitted by elements or compounds when they’re subjected to infrared radiation.
	www.discover.com /issues/aug-97/departments/singingsand1207 (461 words)

	Welcome to Fallon Tourism - Media (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		Sand Mountain is a "seif" dune which describes its long, sword-like shape.
		In fact, Sand Mountain changes its shape everyday as the prevailing southwest winds continue to deposit new sand while pushing and pulling, kneading and sculpturing on the old.
		The songs of "Singing" Sand Mountain change with the season, influenced by heat, friction, humidity, and the shapes of the billions of particles of quartz, magnetite, and feldspar.
	www.fallontourism.com /media/sandmtn.html (548 words)

	NASA - Exploration Systems - City-swallowing Sand Dunes (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		NASA-supported researchers are studying the complex physics of migrating sand dunes--a grave concern in nations where the relentless advance of desert dunes is a serious threat to habitation and agriculture.
		Sand fences, like snow fences, can also help, although in many cases their design is little more than guesswork.
		Sand dunes fascinate Jenkins (along with his collaborators in Gainesville, Florida, and Rennes, France) because they manifest three aspects of granular flow.
	exploration.nasa.gov /articles/06dec_dunes.html (1261 words)

	Singing Sand Dunes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The Singing Sand Dunes or Song of Dunes, also described as roaring, booming, squeaking, or musical sand, is the name given to a natural sound phenomenon of up to 115 decibels lasting as long as several minutes that occurs in about 35 desert locations around the world.
		The sound is similar to a loud, low-pitch, rumble, and it emanates from the crescent-shaped dunes, or barchans, without any direct wind involvement.
		Scientists announced in 2006 that they had discovered how this phenomenon works[1]: collisions between grains of sands cause the motions of the grains to become synchronized.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Singing_Sand_Dunes (191 words)

	Nomads Tours and Expeditions: South Gobi and the singing sand dunes
		Bayanzag is an area of red cliffs which have been formed from the erosion of the sand and rock over many thousands of years.
		These are Mongolia's largest sand dunes, reaching a height of 800 meters in some areas.
		The colors of the sand dunes change with the hour of the day, from yellow to silver to rose-colored at dawn.
	www.nomadstours.com /short-trips/sand-dunes.html (555 words)

	bookofjoe: The Sound of Sand Singing
		The dunes at Sand Mountain in Nevada sing a note of low C, two octaves below middle C. In the desert of Mar de Dunas in Chile, the dunes sing slightly higher, an F, while the sands of Ghord Lahmar in Morocco are higher yet, a G sharp.
		The scientists shipped sand from a Moroccan desert to a Paris laboratory and reproduced the singing by pushing the sand around with a metal blade.
		Here is a link to a page on his website replete with recordings of singing sand from all over the world.
	www.bookofjoe.com /2006/07/the_sound_of_sa.html (567 words)

	China: Dunhuang: Echoing-sand mountain
		Some say that the sand is singing, while to others it is like an echo and this is how the mountain gets its name.
		While they were engaged in a fierce battle, a great gust of wind buried all the warriors in the sand and the sand mountain was formed.
		As the battle was at its height, the soldiers continued to fight beneath the sand.
	www.travelchinaguide.com /attraction/gansu/dunhuang/sand.htm (662 words)

	EXN.ca \| Discovery
		The sands produce music as they are tossed through the air by wind sweeping across beaches, or tumble down the sides of dunes; often inspiring reverence and awe in those who are witness to the beauty of their sound.
		It's part of general phenomena known as 'musical sand'," Dr. Goldsack says, adding, "There is an example of 'singing sand' right here in Ontario; along the Bruce Peninsula." Another type of musical sand is the 'booming sands' found in desert dunes.
		Collecting their data from Kauai, Hawaii, Goldsack, along with colleagues Marcel B. Leach and Cindi Kilkenny, discerned that the sounds produced by the sands were the result of a silica gel layer (produced when quartz is dissolved in water) covering the individual grains.
	www.exn.ca /Stories/1997/03/05/01.asp (377 words)

	Sand Dance by K.D. Wentworth
		That was why, even though he was nearly grown, no girl of the village would have him for a husband, and why his parents had refused to waste their hard-earned money apprenticing him into a decent trade.
		The dark lines in the sand flowed in time to the song that had always been as much a part of him as his own blood, weaving a story of timelessness and power and relentless joy.
		He made her afraid, he thought, afraid that her child would be born on a night of singing, afraid that it would belong to the sand for all of its short life.
	www.galaxyezine.org /readingroom/stories/gweek016.html (3745 words)

	Mason Inman's Blog
		Sand can sing loud, sending out booms or squeaks when it slides down the side of a dune—but no one is sure why.
		Though you might think singing sand is a fun, maybe somewhat frivolous project for scientists to work on, the various people who work on singing sand have bitter disagreements about their findings.
		There are a whole bunch of physicists working on string theory, devoting their lives to it, rather than just a few, independent researchers working on singing dunes as a side project.
	mileshotel.blogspot.com /2006/11/trouble-with-singing-sand.html (730 words)

	City-swallowing Sand Dunes
		NASA-supported researchers are studying the complex physics of menacing sand dunes.
		: "Singing sand dunes" of the Gobi Desert.
		Sand Dunes on Mars (APOD); Canyons, craters, and drifting dunes: Earth vs. Mars); The Life and Love of Sand Dunes (DesertUSA) includes a fascination section on "booming dunes."
	science.nasa.gov /headlines/y2002/06dec_dunes.htm (1204 words)

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