Coastal Sand Dune Systems: Location, Formation, Morphological Characteristics Analysis through Vegetation Processes Estimation

Abstract

Most of the beaches are covered by vegetated sand dumps called sand dunes, built up through dry beach sand blown inland and trapped by plants and other obstructions. As sand accumulates, the dunes become higher and wider. Stable sand dunes play an important role to protect the coastline. They act as a buffer against wave damage during storms, protecting the land behind from salt water intrusion. This sand barrier allows the development of more complex plant communities in areas protected from salt water inundation, sea spray and strong winds. Plants play a vital role in this process, acting as a windbreak and trapping the deposited sand particles. A characteristic of these plants is their ability to grow up through the sand and continually produce new stems and roots as more sand is trapped and the dune grows. To form the sand dune in the coastal belt and their morphological characteristics always depends mostly on three conditions like supply of sediments, bearing capacity of air and plant covering. The present attempt is to explore the formation and morphological characteristics of coastal dune in the estuarine part with massive deposition of sediments throughout the year in the shore, presence of wide beach and off-shore wind through the vegetation processes estimation which may significantly helps the nature to prepare the coastal sand dune.