page_title: Inland dune
section_title: Formation
hierarchical_section_title: Inland dune / Formation
caption_attribution_description: Binnenlanddünen an der Elbe bei Dömitz
context_page_description: Inland dunes are eolian sand dunes that are found inland, away from coastal regions.
context_section_description: In Central Europe, towards the end of the last glacial period (about 12,000 years ago), it was about 10 degrees colder than today. There was therefore no forest cover but only patchy vegetation in the form of tundra. In addition, in the areas covered by the ice sheet, the vegetation had to re-establish itself as the glaciers melted. As a result, the winds could blow almost unhindered. Light, fine-grained soil particles, especially of silt and sand were plucked up by air currents, often transported for miles and then deposited at another location. The wind also had a sorting effect - silt is transported significantly faster than sand - and this resulted, over time, in areas of aeolian sand and sand dunes being formed, while the silt was transported much further and redeposited, for example, on the northern edge of highlands.
  In high winds the dunes had a tendency to "wander". Most of the currently existing inland dunes were created at this time. With the end of the glacial period, the mobility of the dunes quickly came to a halt as a result of reforestation.
  The shape of inland dunes varies depending on the prevailing wind direction and strength. Most of them are rather irregular dunes or shifting belts of sand. But there are also occur very well-formed parabolic dunes and longitudinal dunes.
  Nearly all recent phases of the development of inland dunes are affected by human intervention on the vegetation cover. By the deliberate or unintentional clearing of the forest, dunes became mobile again in areas where they had become static.
  The analysis of charcoal particles in the dunes using radiocarbon dating has established that the activity of settlers in the Neolithic period caused the dunes to become mobile again. But even in the Bronze and Iron Age there is evidence of man-induced dune activity.
caption: Inland dunes on the Elbe near Dömitz (Klein Schmölen Nature Reserve) near Dömitz 53°07′33″N 11°17′28″E﻿ / ﻿53.12576°N 11.29120°E﻿ / 53.12576; 11.29120
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