A decade-long research project to analyse the desert in the Gulf reached what might seem like a surprising conclusion: sand dunes can breathe.
The work showed how sand dunes exchange air with the environment around them and demonstrated that this can help the growth of microorganisms inside the dune.
By highlighting how sand dunes exchange water vapour — a greenhouse gas — with the surrounding air, the findings may improve the scientific understanding of desertification at a time of climate change.
Led by Prof Michel Louge, of Cornell University in the US, the researchers developed an ultra-sensitive probe that could detect the temperature and moisture on the surface of sand grains.
We could measure, for the first time, the flux of the moisture going in and out of the sand dune
Prof Michel Louge
“Because the probe is so precise, it could measure how the moisture changes with time and space,” Prof Louge said.
“We could measure, for the first time, the flux of the moisture going in and out of the sand dune.”
While collecting data in Qatar, they found that when the wind blew over the surface of a dune and it skimmed off the upper layer, creating imbalances in the air pressure that resulted in weak air currents and “evanescent”, or fleeting, waves of moisture passing down through the dune.
“An analysis of these waves implies that water evaporation from individual sand grains behaves like a slow chemical reaction,” the researchers wrote in the Journal of Geophysical Research — Earth Surface.
Until the latest study, the way that sand dunes “inhaled” and “exhaled” water vapour was poorly understood because instruments lacked precision.
It had been thought that the exchange of moisture between the dune and the atmosphere was caused by a difference in humidity between the dune’s surface and the ambient air, but the latest research shows this is not always the case.
The movement of water vapour into the sand dune allows microorganisms to survive deep inside the structure of the dune, even when there may not be much liquid water inside.
The fieldwork was carried out at sand dunes near Mesaieed, south of Doha, and often involved overnight stays in the desert so that instruments could be checked to ensure they were running properly, as dozens of measurements were taken each hour.
In addition to recording measurements on and inside the dune, the researchers took air humidity and temperature readings, checked solar radiation, and monitored wind direction and speed.
They also worked at laboratories at Weill Cornell Medicine — Qatar, a branch of Cornell University near the Qatari capital.
The research took a decade to come to fruition because Prof Louge and his colleagues preferred to develop a definitive understanding of how dunes exchange moisture, rather than publish incremental studies that each revealed a small part of the picture.
Water vapour is a major greenhouse gas, so understanding how it moves into and out of dunes could help to create a better picture of how desertification may affect climate change.
“We found that much less water was exchanged across the surface than we anticipated. If you take that and multiply that by the surface of the large sand seas like the Sahara, it makes a big difference,” he said.
“It’s crucially important to understand what the deserts exhale and inhale. They’re found in a very large portion of the land mass, an increasing proportion.”
The findings could also improve scientists’ understanding of desertification, which is a growing threat as a result of climate change and habitat degradation.
Prof Louge hopes that Gulf states will invest more in studying sand dunes, because having laboratories close to the dunes makes research much easier.
Nations in the Gulf region are well placed to advance the field, he said.
“The governments of the Gulf states are very forward looking. They know all the ramifications of global climate change, the importance of sustainability, the changes and risks of desertification,” he said.
“They could put together institutions that bring together the best scientists … They have the intellect. They have all the resources needed … There’s so much that can be learnt.”
The other authors of the paper are Prof Alexandre Valance, of the Institute of Physics of Rennes, France, Dr Jin Xu, of Cornell University, Prof Ahmed Ould El Moctar, of the University of Nantes, France, and Patrick Chasle, of the Institute of Physics of Rennes.
Prof Louge’s research is the latest to unearth the hidden life of sand dunes, with a 2020 study from the University of Cambridge indicating that turbulence in the air or water created by one dune influenced neighbouring dunes.
As a result, dunes have been described as communicating with or repelling each other.
As reported in The National, the researchers found that water flowing through a circular chamber caused the dune further downstream, namely further from the incoming flow, to initially move faster.
However, at a certain distance apart, the two dunes’ speeds become the same and the downstream dune is no longer being “repelled” by the upstream one.
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
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- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.
The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.
Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
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This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Sepsis arises when the body tries to fight an infection but damages its own tissue and organs in the process.
The World Health Organisation estimates it affects about 30 million people each year and that about six million die.
Of those about three million are newborns and 1.2 are young children.
Patients with septic shock must often have limbs amputated if clots in their limbs prevent blood flow, causing the limbs to die.
Campaigners say the condition is often diagnosed far too late by medical professionals and that many patients wait too long to seek treatment, confusing the symptoms with flu.
