Carlo Sand Blow
February 02, 2007
Provided and copyright by: Richard Cottrell
Summary authors & editors: Richard Cottrell
The photo above showing simmering sand waves was taken at Carlo Sand Blow, located in Queensland, Australia. A sand blow as the name implies is simply a geographical feature where blown sand accumulates. This particular place is in a saddle in the coastal bluffs near Rainbow Beach. Named by Captain Cook during his circumnavigation of Australia, this bright feature serves as a landmark from the sea. Over thousands of years, grains of sand have been lifted from the bluffs by prevailing winds blowing from the Pacific Ocean, forming hypnotic patterns -- approximately 15 hectares in size. Sand grains are plucked by the wind and pushed from ridge to ridge about an inch at a time (~2.5 cm). Human removal of vegetation here is suspected as the original formative factor. Photo taken on October 24, 2006.
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