Myth vs Reality: Sandy Deserts
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This short video addresses the misconception that all deserts have sand dunes.
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Title
Time
Insight Into: Deserts
01:16
Above and Beyond: The Painted Desert
01:32
Above and Beyond: The Namib Desert
00:44
Myth vs Reality: Desert Life
00:40
Myth vs Reality: Desert Climates
00:41
Myth vs Reality: Sandy Deserts
00:40
Above and Beyond: Tin Bider Crater
00:47
Above and Beyond: Death Valley
01:41
Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with the NASA Earth Observatory.
All images, illustrations, and videos courtesy of NASA
except:
· Image of Antarctic snow dunes courtesy of Mark Fahnestock, University of Maryland, College Park
· Sea creature illustration copyright The National Library of Israel, Shapell Family Digitization Project _and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Geography – Historic Cities Research Project
· Image of clouds off Namibian coast courtesy of Chelys
· Image of dunes in the Namib Desert courtesy of the USGS EROS Data Center Satellite Systems Branch
· Namibian dune photo courtesy of Wikimedia user Alcazarfr
· Photo of the Mandara Oasis in Libya courtesy of Rudolph Baumann
· Photo of Astrophytum ornatum cactus courtesy of Wikimedia user Stan Shebs
· Photos of desert plants courtesy of Wikimedia user Halfalah and Dr. Eric Christian (NASA)
· Photo of fishhook barrel cactus courtesy of Susan Lynn Peterson
· Photo of Ubari Oasis in Libya courtesy of Wikimedia user Sfivat
· Image of alluvial fan in Takla Makan Desert courtesy of the USGS EROS Data Center Satellite Systems Branch
· Photos of salt-covered croplands courtesy of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Music courtesy of Associated Production Music
Written by Andrea Gianopoulos
Designed by Marc Lussier
(SPEECH)
[UPTEMPO MUSIC]
(DESCRIPTION)
A blue hexagon appears in the middle of a gray background split into two halves by a line, A banner is outlined in light blue for the title, Myth vs Reality. An illustration with sea serpents surrounding a ship is above Myth, a satellite view of a desert landscape is above Reality. The Myth side is highlighted. Text, All deserts are sandy places with dunes.
The Reality side is highlighted. Text, Only 20% of Earth's desert land is covered with sand. Much of Earth's deserts are wind-swept plains of exposed bedrock, gravel, and hard desert soils, with no sand dunes. The largest desert on Earth, Antarctica, is largely covered in ice.