Sands of Time, Empty Quarter, UAE
How can wind shape so elegantly little grains of sand into patterns that intersect at interesting angles - and then suddenly change the whole artistry of a dune? I think that no matter how many times you see a pattern in a pattern in a pattern that is a sand dune, you are forever mesmerized by the grandeur of the complexity of the physics. The flux of energy here is phenomenal and the sculptress exotic. To be caught in the shifting biting stinging sand is a whole other matter for then nature seems cruel, harsh, and so unjust. At times we love to walk the thin edge - the fine line left by the last puff of wind shifting and rolling sand grains. (Dr. Richard Arnold, former Director, Soil Survey Division, USDA-NRCS)
As the sun was going down, I stepped behind a dune for this magic low-light image of the shifting sands in the Empty Quarter area of the UAE. The Rub' al Khali is the largest contiguous sand desert in the world, encompassing most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula. The desert covers some 650,000 square kilometers including parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It is part of the larger Arabian Desert.
For more photos related to soils and landscapes visit:
Sands of Time, Empty Quarter, UAE
How can wind shape so elegantly little grains of sand into patterns that intersect at interesting angles - and then suddenly change the whole artistry of a dune? I think that no matter how many times you see a pattern in a pattern in a pattern that is a sand dune, you are forever mesmerized by the grandeur of the complexity of the physics. The flux of energy here is phenomenal and the sculptress exotic. To be caught in the shifting biting stinging sand is a whole other matter for then nature seems cruel, harsh, and so unjust. At times we love to walk the thin edge - the fine line left by the last puff of wind shifting and rolling sand grains. (Dr. Richard Arnold, former Director, Soil Survey Division, USDA-NRCS)
As the sun was going down, I stepped behind a dune for this magic low-light image of the shifting sands in the Empty Quarter area of the UAE. The Rub' al Khali is the largest contiguous sand desert in the world, encompassing most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula. The desert covers some 650,000 square kilometers including parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It is part of the larger Arabian Desert.
For more photos related to soils and landscapes visit: