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Swakopmund Dune Fields, Namibia, 2000

Wind-sculpted dunes sprawl across the Sesriem and Sossusvlei dune area in Namibia's Namib Desert. The Namib is a cool, coastal desert that roughly translates to "an area where there is nothing" in the Nama language. It is known for its dramatic dunes, including the crescent-shaped barchan dunes shown here, some of which can reach 100 feet (30 meters) high and 1,200 feet (370 meters) wide.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "New Eyes on the Oceans," October 2000, National Geographic magazine)

Photograph by Cary Wolinsky