Sandy Coast Landforms of the Łeba Barrier, Słowiński National Park

The Słowiński National Park, located on the southern Baltic SeaBaltic Sea coast, is known primarily for active dune fields, located in the central part of the sandy Łeba BarrierBarrier. The barrier itself constitutes a part of a former barrierBarrier-lagoonLagoon coast, which began to form about 6000 cal yr BP as a result of sea levelSea level changes. From the beginning, its surface was modelled by the wind, which led to the formation of dunes of different types. The most common dunes are incipient and established foredunesForedune, which stretch as sandy ridges parallel to the coastlineCoastline and are up to 15 m high. Smaller and ephemeral aeolianAeolian landforms developed on the beachBeach include shadow dunes and/or nebkhas, and sand patches which may evolve into chains of small barchans up to 1.5 m height. Inland, different transverse dunesDunetransverse occur such as non-active parabolic duneDuneparabolic anchored by vegetation and active simple or compound crescentic dunesDunecrescentic with smaller crescentic ridges superimposed on their windward slopes and crestal areas. They formed due to unimodal wind regimes dominated by westerly winds and moved or still move eastward. Between the dunes depressions or hollows generated by aeolianAeolian deflationDeflation occur. Recently, due to the encroachment of vegetation, sand sources have been reduced, the height of migrating dunes gradually decreases and in consequence they transform into large dome dune.