Moving on Sand - Dune Worlds: How Windblown Sand Shapes Planetary Landscapes - page 251

Fig. 22.7 Sheets of sand being thrown up by the bike's rear paddle tire—note the ridges at 45 intervals. While these provide powerful traction
on loose dune sands, they would be unpleasant and unsafe for road use. Photo by Kevin Rice, Wikipedia/Creative Commons License

this was a favored vehicle to modify for dune driving,
principally because of its rear-mounted engine and easily-
obtainable spare parts.
Key features of a dune buggy are a low center of gravity,
such that the vehicle can climb and turn on steep slipfaces
without overturning. A roll cage to protect the occupants in
case it does overturn is typical. Rear wheel drive is also
typical. Usually a whip-like flagpole is used to display a
marking pennant, to make the vehicle visible from the other
side of a dune crest—in fact, such flags are often a legal
requirement at many recreational sites. Dune buggies and
their like have been adapted for very specific military tasks
(Fig. 22.6 ).
In the extreme variants of dune buggies used recrea-
tionally to climb dunes, special 'paddle' tires are sometimes
employed. As for half-tracks, this additional traction is

usually employed only on the rear of buggies or bikes.
These tires have prominent ridges to dig into the sand, and
often launch sheets of sand rearwards, forming prominent
'rooster tails' of sand in the air (Fig. 22.7 ).
A rather accessible and very effective form of motorized
transport is an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) or quad-bike.
With four—often large—tires, these vehicles are stable and
have low ground loading, making them popular for recre-
ational driving on dunes (Fig. 22.8 ). The first author can
attest, having driven one of these across Dumont dunes to
generate a GPS shape model, that the experience of blasting
up a steep dune face is exhilarating. While a more powerful
quad bike may be preferred on mountain tracks and the like,
in fact a less powerful but lighter bike may perform better
on dunes, where ground loading is an overriding

consideration.