The Stovepipe Wells dunes are located in the Mesquite Flat region of Death Valley, just north of Cottonball basin. The dunes are surrounded by mountains, just north of Tucki Mountain, which acts as a barrier to the widening of Death Valley in this region, and south of the Cottonwood Mountains to the north and northwest [Bender, 1982].  The seasonal reversal and convergence of winds result in the relative stability of northeast trending transverse dunes and east-trending longitudinal dunes [Clements et al., 1963] .  The dune field extends 10 km in the northwest direction with star dunes that rise to 40 m above the terrain.  The dunes consist primarily of quartz and feldspar derived from the Cottonwood Mountains to the north and northwest, but also contain lithic fragments that originate from Emigrant Pass to the west and Furnace Wash to the east [Hunt and Mabey, 1966] .