A Germanic word ( dūno ) that passed into Dutch ( duin ) is the etymological antecedent of dune . This term is used to name a hill formed by sand that moves and accumulates due to the action of the wind .
Dunes are common on beaches and in deserts . The concept, according to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), is synonymous with dune .
The appearance of the dunes varies depending on the direction of the wind . These hills are created when the wind blows intensely and causes the sand to gather in a certain place. The same wind then causes the dunes to move: the smaller dunes move faster than the large dunes, until they reach them and merge. The wind can also cause other smaller dunes to break off from a dune of significant size.
It is important to mention that the displacement of the dunes can cause various disorders. Dunes, for example, can advance and obstruct streets or highways (routes) or even invade crops. Given this reality, it is possible to resort to various methods to limit the movement of the dunes, such as planting plants that help fix them.
It is said that the highest dune in the world is located in Tatón , a town in the province of Catamarca ( Argentina ). Named the Federico Kirbus Dune in homage to a journalist who made it known, its height exceeds 1,200 meters.
In Spain there is the Bolonia dune , which measures more than 30 meters high, around 500 meters wide and was formed about 200 meters inland. It is located northwest of Bolonia, a beach in the province of Cádiz. In 2001, it was declared a Natural Monument of Andalusia , a legal category that frames certain spaces of nature that are considered protected and must be regulated by this autonomous community .
This accumulation of sand was formed due to the action of the dominant easterly winds when they collided head-on with one of the ends of the inlet (a typical geographical feature of the maritime coasts that is seen as a circle-shaped inlet of water with a short mouth extension). Eastern winds , on the other hand, are those that come from the east and affect the Spanish Mediterranean coast.
Precisely, the formation of this dune took place because the coast of the beach on which it is located is oriented from the southeast to the northwest and the wind lifts and drives a current of fine sand that sweeps its surface until it reaches one of the ends of the inlet. At this point, the current collides with its closure forming an almost right angle.
At this final end of the cove there is a small rock substrate, which can be seen more clearly from the west, and its vegetation is mainly made up of undergrowth and pine, factors that helped stop the sand from forming. dune.
The dune is quite stable at the end of its structure, where the pine trees do not give up in their attempt to grow while the sand seeks to continue advancing. Since its height is greater than that of the trees and the wind is strong enough to disperse the excess sand over long distances, its advance is not continuous.
Duna , on the other hand, is the name of a famous car model manufactured by Fiat . The Fiat Duna , known as the Fiat Premio in some countries , was born in 1988 and was produced until 2001 .