The Pilat dune along France’s Atlantic coast has lost thirteen feet since 2009 due to strong winds that reduced it to the lowest height recorded in a decade.
The dune, even the largest in Europe, is now 102.5 meters (336 feet), 3.9 meters (13 feet) shorter than a year ago. Its lowest level since annual measurements began in 2009 was 107.9 meters in 2013, and was the highest at that time was 110.5 in 2017, according to the Aquitaine Coastal Observatory.
The observatory monitors the dune and coastal region surrounding Bordeaux to measure the effect on things like climate replacement and herbal environmental phenomena. Scientists noted that while the height of the Pilat dune sometimes falls and flows each year, the 8-meter (26-foot) drop in 3 years warrants further study.
The observatory is involved in the erosion of the dune, as well as its slow migration. The dune is 2900 meters (9500 feet) long and six hundred meters (1950 feet) wide. In this case, this footprint continues to move east and inland, which poses a potential risk to the surrounding forest, local roads and tourist sites such as camps.
“This year, the succession of strong wind gusts in autumn and winter has contributed to a strong migration from Dune Ridge to the east,” the observatory wrote in his report.
The observatory plans to publish a more detailed review later this fall. The annual measurement is delayed for several weeks due to the national closure due to the coronavirus.
In recent decades, the Pilat dune, located in the Arcachon basin in the Gironde department, has an immensely popular tourist destination, offering stimulating hikes that praise visitors with surprising prospects of the Atlantic coast.
Geologists reported that the dune was created millions of years ago when the Pyrenees to the south and the mountains of the Massif Central to the east eroded. Local rivers carried sand from the mountains to the ocean, where it drifted to the shore and created the great dune.
I am an American journalist in Toulouse, France, and I write about technology, travel, culture, politics and entertainment. Before I moved to France in 2014, I spent 15
I am an American journalist founded in Toulouse, France, and I write about technology, matrix culture, politics and entertainment. Before moving to France in 2014, I spent 15 years covering Silicon Valley for the Los Angeles Times and The San Jose Mercury News. I also run the French website Carrefour.