At certain dunes, grains sliding down a slope can produce a deep, booming hum, one you can hear and feel. A sand avalanche can turn an apparently silent landscape into a resonating instrument.

It takes the right conditions: grains that are smooth and fairly uniform, along with suitable moisture. When those conditions come together, moving sand can make a low, eerie note.

The sand dunes that sing

Sound on: the original recording of booming sand at Great Sand Dunes National Park — National Park Service / Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve. Original Singing Sand Phenomenon film with documentary sound; excerpt at original speed.

Kelso Dunes in Mojave National Preserve, another site with booming sand — National Park Service / Mojave National Preserve. Original photograph of Kelso Dunes, another location with booming sand.

Rippled sand at Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve — Julie West / National Park Service. Original photograph of Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve.

The sand dunes that sing

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