Dunes and Deserts:

Modern and Ancient

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
and Zion National Park

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Why do we have deserts?

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Atmospheric
circulation

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Rain shadows

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Precipitation is episodic-flashy

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Cross Bedding forms as a result of ripple migration

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Landscape deflation

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 Great Sand Dunes NP-P
• 85,000 acres in south-central Colorado
– Designated NP-P in 2004
• Tallest sand dunes in North America
• Began to form 400,000 yrs ago
– Mobilization of nearby Rio Grande River sediments
• Abundant water!!! Urf? It’s a desert, right?
• Represents a high desert.
– 11 inches rain/yr, but evaporation dominant
• 280,000+ visitors/yr.
– Hiking
– Sand sledding
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 Rocky
Mountain
Province

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Cross Bedding forms as a result of ripple migration

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 Zion National Park
• Ancient Desert/dune fields
– Jurassic Period 199 to 145 Million years old
• 230 sq. miles of park
• Exposed on Colorado Plateau
– Dunes covered 150,000 sq. miles
• Human habitation 8000 yrs ago
• 2.7 million visitors/yr

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Colorado
Plateau

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