Mechanism of acoustic emissions from booming sand dunes

TL;DR

This paper explains the booming sound of sand dunes as a resonance phenomenon of grain chains within a thin solid layer, aligning classical elastic mechanics with observed acoustic emissions.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the booming sound originates from resonance of grain chains, linking elastic mechanics to dune acoustics.

Findings

Resonance of grain chains explains the booming frequency.

Booming occurs within a thin solid layer of sand.

Classical elastic mechanics models match observed acoustic emissions.

Abstract

The classical elastic mechanics shows that the fundamental frequency of a sand grain chain is similar to the typical frequency of acoustic emission generated by the booming dunes. The "song of dunes" is therefore considered to originate from the resonance of grain chains occurring within a solid layer only several centimeters thick.