The remarkable recovery of dunes in Death Valley after some were obliterated by remnants of a hurricane may offer clues to how scientists should interpret rocks to study ancient flooding, new research suggests. The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research by a lab based at the University of California, Los Angeles, tracks the rebuilding of Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes after Hurricane Hilary in 2023, the remnants of a storm that brought a year’s worth of rain to Death Valley National Park in a single day. … The dune landscape’s quick removal of evidence that Hilary occurred suggests extreme flooding may leave a much more fragmented and difficult-to-recognize signature in the rock record than scientists might expect from the size of the event.