British scientists have discovered how giant star-shaped sand dunes are formed in Morocco. The results are impressive: one of the largest and most famous sand dunes is thirteen thousand years old and moves slowly across the desert.
Scientists from the University of London, among others, traveled to Lalla Lalia in southeastern Morocco. These sand dunes are considered among the most famous sand dunes in the world.
Lala Lallia is the so-called star sand dune. Such sand dunes are created by gusts of wind blowing against each other. This gives it a pyramid shape. From above you can see that the dunes are diverging in several directions, making them resemble a four or five-pointed star. Lala Lala is 100 meters high and over 700 meters wide.
Researchers can now say something about the formation of such sand dunes. Although the base of Lala Lalia was formed thirteen thousand years ago, the upper part was likely formed only within the last thousand years. In the thousands of years in between, the sand mountain remained untouched. The climate in the area may have been a little wetter at the time, which allowed plants to grow that anchored the dunes with their roots.
Sterduin slides slowly across the desert
This is different now. Not only has Lala Lala grown significantly over the past thousands of years, but the sand mountain also changes slightly every year. Every year, Lala Lalia moves by 50 centimetres, which means it moves slowly across the desert.
This is the first time that the formation of this type of sand dune has been studied. The composition of sand has been studied previously. This appears to have arisen millions of years ago. We have now looked specifically at when sand reached certain places. Information about dune development is useful for infrastructure and pipeline construction.
One researcher mentions the corresponding star dunes Watchman Extraordinary “natural wonders of the world.” It is found only in deserts in Africa, Asia and North America. Mars and Titan, Saturn's largest moons, also have such sand dunes.
