A sand dune in Indiana has started swallowing people walking on its face.
It's like nature is fighting back.
Hello there people of House Atreides, Trace here reporting on a horrrrrible thing for
DNews.
Science is now exploring how and why sand dunes will eat you.
No I'm not talking about the lighting sand or pit of Sarlacc, Arrakis or any of that.
I'm talking about REAL SAND ON REAL DUNES HERE ON EARTH THAT CAN SWALLOW YOU WHOLE.
The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is gorgeous, I've been there a few times and it's beautiful,
but it seems, it has the potential to be deadly.
Picture this, six-year-old boy walking down a sand dune next to a beautiful freshwater
inland sea.
Then suddenly, without warning, he disappears.
His parents run screaming toward the boy and find nothing but sand.
A hole had appeared below this kids feet and before he OR his nearby parents could do anything
he had disappeared beneath the sand!!
Three hours later, and eleven feet down, emergency personnel pulled him out!
ELEVEN FEET.
Nearby, was a geologist from Indiana University Northwest and she is now one of many studying
the dunes to find the cause of this sand swallowing.
She believes we're seeing a new geological phenomenon forming right under our feet.
More holes have appeared and disappeared and to find out what's going on, the National
Park Service is ON THE CASE.
They're using GPS, ground penetrating radar and other fancy technology to explore what's
going on under the surface of this 200 foot pile of sand.
But so far they're not sure what's happening.
Because dunes SHOULDN'T HAVE HOLES!
See, sand dunes form when the wind drops the stuff it's carrying in the same spot for thousands
of years.
When the wind blows over a sandy region, like the warm beaches of Lake Michigan, sand particles
are pulled along with it -- bouncing a few inches above the surface.
If something blocks the flow of sand, like denser air, mountains, opposing wind forces,
or even a small ridge; then WHAMMY, a dune will form.
When conditions are perfect, giant dunes like Mount Baldy can form.
When you build a dune like this, one particle of sand at a time, there's not a lot of room
for air or water to get trapped inside the sandy mountain.
Sinkholes // which are terrifying // form when erosion removes the support structure
under a layer of earth.
Quicksand is the same, it's water erosion of the layers UNDER the sand.
So, unlike quicksand or sinkholes there's nothing under there making room for people
to be sucked in.
One hypothesis claims trees and structures once on a plain around the dune have now been
swallowed by this shifting mountain and as they rot they leave spaces for more sand to
fall in.
But that doesn't fully explain the problem.
Science is bumfuzzled!
So what's the fix?
The National Park Service isn't sure.
Like deserts and marshes, dunes are a delicate balance of nature.
Too much plant life solidifies the ground creating a hill, too little and the dune blows
away.
Baldy is in a sweet spot where the whole dune can grow and shift; and it's currently moving
inland away from the lake, year after year.
Dunes in China are going the same way, threatening villages as they move 65 feet (20M) every
year.
For the moment, the dune is close to the public while they research what could be causing
these collapses, but this is a REAL science mystery!
What do you think could be causing these holes?
You should tell us your own cocka-mamy theories down in the comments, I'm sure you've got
an idea.
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