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Ecology & Environment
Mahesh

04/12/22 15:02 PM IST

Coatal Res Sand Dunes of Vizag

In News
  • Geologists have said that the coastal red sand dunes of Vizag, have much significance geologically, archaeologically, and anthropologically and it needs to be protected.
Red Sand Dunes
  • The Coastal Red Sand Dunes is also known as ‘Erra Matti Dibbalu’. It is one of the many sites of Visakhapatnam, which have geological importance.
  • The site is located along the coast and is about 20 km north-east of Visakhapatnam city and about 4 km south-west of Bheemunipatnam.
  • This site was declared as a geo-heritage site by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) in 2014 and the Andhra Pradesh government has listed it under the category of ‘protected sites’ in 2016.
  • Such sand deposits are rare and have been reported only from three places in the tropical regions in south Asia such as Teri Sands in Tamil Nadu, Erra Matti Dibbalu in Visakhapatnam and one more site in Sri Lanka.
  • They do not occur in equatorial regions or temperate regions due to many scientific reasons.
Significance
  • It is significant to protect this site, because its study can help understand the impact of climate change, as Erra Matti Dibbalu has seen both the glacial and the warm periods.
  • The site is about 18,500 to 20,000 years old and it can be related to the last glacial period.
  • It is a lively scientific evolution site, which depicts the real-time effects of climate change.
  • About 18,500 years ago, the sea (Bay of Bengal) was at least 5 km behind from the present coastline. Since then, it has been undergoing continuous active changes till about 3,000 years ago and still the changes are on.
  • The site also has archaeological significance, as studies of artifacts indicate an Upper Palaeolithic horizon and on cross dating assigned to Late Pleistocene epoch, which is 20,000 BC.
  • The site was home to the pre-historic man as the excavations at several places in the region revealed stone implements of three distinctive periods and also the pottery of the Neolithic man.
Source- The Hindu

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