The tallest dune in the world. Dune Saw is the highest dune in Europe. Bordeaux itself is a French top city

Looking at the tons of sand on the French coast, it seems like some magician’s joke: take a piece of the Sahara and move it here, to the Bay of Biscay near the Bay of Arcachon, carefully laying it on the border of coniferous forests sixty kilometers from Bordeaux.

In fact, the largest dune in Europe owes its appearance to natural processes. Namely, the Lehr River, which diligently, from century to century, carried grains of sand into the ocean and left them on the shallows located directly opposite the current dune. And the wind, in turn, also diligently carried the sand to the shore, to the place where the dune grew year after year.

Just 150 years ago its height was small - only about 35 meters. However, it was not possible to stop the advance of sand - today the dune adds an average of 4 meters per year, and at the same time moves somewhat from side to side, and its height, depending on the wind, varies from 80 to 107 meters.

In general, the Great Dune stretches almost 3 kilometers along the coast and another 500 meters deep into the coniferous forest, which, by the way, appeared here by the will of man - it was planted in the mid-19th century as a measure to drain the local marshy lands.

Let's take a closer look at it...

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The snow-white dune of Pyla, or Pilat (la Dune du Pyla, Pilat), located in the throat of the Bay of Arcachon (Bassin-Arcachon) in southwestern France, is considered the largest in Europe. It has a height of 108 meters, stretching along the coast for more than three kilometers. The width of the sand dune is about half a kilometer. Surrounded by waters Atlantic Ocean and centuries-old pine forests, the Pyla dune has a history of eight thousand years: sand hills were formed on the coast as a result of the interaction of strong winds, tides. With each decade, the dune moves further into the continent, gradually displacing forest thickets, roads and private houses; moving on average five meters per year.

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Dune Pyla is one of the most popular natural attractions of French Aquitaine: for the convenience of numerous travelers, there is a staircase that can be used to climb to the top of the hill. In windy weather, however, the steps become so covered with sand that you still have to climb the dune on your own.
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In terms of volume, these sand deposits occupy one of the first places in the world. The dune has a volume of about 60 million cubic meters. Its height is 107 m, width – 500 m, and length – almost 3000 m.

The dune overcomes 5-7 meters every year, moving deeper into the mainland. At the same time, water erosion eats away the sand from the bay side. Some scientists believe that over time this unique phenomenon may disappear from the face of the Earth.
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How was this dune formed?

More than eight thousand years ago, the formation of sand deposits began. The sand came onto land for three reasons:

· Firstly, sea waters retreated from the shores;

· Secondly, strong winds contributed to the onset of the desert;

· Thirdly, the constant ebb and flow of the tides exposed the coast more and more.

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The sand has a dazzling white color. On one side the waters of the Atlantic Ocean splash. From the land side, centuries-old pine forests come directly to it. The contrast is striking. It seems incredible that there is sand next to the forest thicket. This boundary of sand and vegetation is especially clearly visible from a bird's eye view.

The miniature desert in southwestern France attracts those who want to see the incredible juxtaposition of sand and pine forest. More than a million people come to these parts to make sure that there really is a real desert in France. For the convenience of travelers, a special staircase was laid from the foot of the dune to its upper part, which will help overcome a rather difficult climb. But at times when strong winds blow, the stairs are completely swept away. Tourists can only rely on the strength and endurance of their legs.

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A fantastic landscape opens up for those who decide to explore amazing place from a paraglider or hang glider. During the flight, the scale and grandeur of the sand formations are visible. Athletes who live in a neighboring town organize competitions to see who can make the longest flight over the dune.

The best time to explore the beauty of the amazing dune is in the morning. Around noon, guests from various countries arrive. The surface is covered with human silhouettes, and fades a little untouched beauty small desert.

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Among the attractions of France, the sand dune in Pyla is of particular value. A piece of desert in Europe reminds guests that everything in this world is very closely intertwined. And the destruction or destruction of one section of the territory will certainly lead to its capture by another natural community.

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The best time to visit the Pyla Dune is before ten in the morning, when you can still find free parking spaces and relatively deserted landscapes of sandy hills and the picturesque Arcachon Bay. Towards noon, dozens of cars and buses with tourists arrive here - and walks along the sands at this time are unlikely to be solitary. More than one million guests visit the natural attraction every year.

The throat of the Arcachon Bay is occupied by dozens of oyster farms, whose products go straight to local restaurants. Therefore, when you go to see the landscapes of the Pyla Dune, take some time to visit coastal cafes and taste French seafood.

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How to get there

Dune Pyla is located 60 kilometers southwest of Bordeaux. If you are traveling by car, you can reach the Bay of Arcachon via the A63 and A660 motorways. When leaving Bordeaux, take the A63. After about 24 kilometers, at the junction, turn right onto the A660. Continue along the motorway for about 20 kilometers until you reach the exit for the N250. After four kilometers, take the D259 road, following signs for Biscarrosse/Dune du Pyla.

You can also get to the Pyla Dune from resort town Arcachon, located 8 kilometers to the north. When leaving Arcachon towards the dunes, follow the signs for Bd de la Côte d'Argent. Then continue along scenic route D218, running along the bay. You can leave your car at a special free parking, located at the northeastern tip of the dune.

A bus service connects Arcachon with the Pyla dune. Buses depart from morning until late evening from the city railway station. Travel time is less than half an hour. In addition, there are many rental offices in Arcachon where you can rent bicycles for a few hours, a day or several days. When going for a nice bike ride along the bay, be aware of the strong winds that characterize the Atlantic coast.

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Sand dunes, which are the result of centuries or even millennia of wind-blown sand, can be found throughout the world, from arid desert areas left over from prehistoric lakes and ocean floors to barriers between land and sea. Sand dunes for many centuries protected the Earth from harsh winds and rising water levels, and also provided unique places habitat for numerous species of animals that have adapted to the rough, sandy environment. As with any mountain, when it comes to size and structure, some dunes are many times larger than others.

1. Dune du Pyla, France

This massive mound, located right in the middle of a huge pine forest, near the Atlantic Ocean and the French Arcachon Bay, is the highest dune in Europe. At the top, which offers breathtaking views of the surrounding contrast of nature, this enormous dune is more than 100 meters high and rises a whopping 106 meters above the waters of the bay. How this dune actually formed is still a mystery, but it is one of France's hidden tourist treasures.

2. Big Daddy, Namibia

A sand dune called Big Daddy, which rises 304 meters above the Namibian landscape, attracts tourists and locals to spend the day climbing on its rust-red slopes. Some do it for the unforgettable views from the top, while others do it for the opportunity to brag later. Being the tallest dune on the Sossusvlei plateau is no small feat. Although Dune 7 (located along the Tsauchab River) is the tallest dune in the Namib Desert, climbing Big Daddy Dune is considered one of the must-do activities in this arid, desert climate. This is probably because it is much more fun to then say: “I climbed all the way up Big Daddy (translated from in English Big Daddy means "big daddy"), which means you've spent the entire day climbing Dune 7.

3. Ynyslas, Wales

The name of this place, Ynislas Sand Dunes, may be difficult to pronounce, but it is definitely worth a visit. Here you can enjoy some of the most beautiful views in all of Wales. Situated on the very edge between sea and land, Inislas presents an ever-changing palette of colors and shapes, with wildflowers scattered along the sea-facing slope in summer time and a ridge that continues to grow every year, millimeter by millimeter, thanks to the fact that the wind continues to blow sand here. Besides the beauty of the dunes, Inislas also provides essential protection for the area's ecosystem, forming a sand wall between the land's vegetation and the harsh winds blowing from the ocean.

4. Badain Jaran Dunes, China

If you intend to visit these dunes, you'll probably want to bring headphones. China's Badin Jaran Desert is home to the tallest fixed dunes on the planet, some reaching 500 meters in height. The exact properties of these dunes, held in place by water somehow seeping from the lake below, are not precisely understood, but this is unlikely to be their interesting feature.

Besides the secret of water absorption, Badin Jaran is also where a phenomenon known as "singing sands" occurs, in which the topmost layer of sand causes an electrostatic charge in the layers below when it is blown away by the wind, causing us to hear massive low-frequency noise , similar to the hum of an airplane propeller flying overhead.

5. Mount Tempest, Australia

Mount Tempest in Australia may be one of the highest in the world, and the highest coastal dune in the world. However, it is not these titles that attract crowds of tourists to Queensland, who flock specifically to climb the once deserted dune slope. The dune is held in place by vegetation that extends deep into the sand, and the view from the top is a magnificent sight for both day-trippers and professional photographers, offering panoramic views of the area from the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane.

6. Rig-e Yalan Dune, Iran

Few dunes in the world can boast of rising more than 304 meters above sea level; Iran's Rig-e Yalan dune claims fame not because of its height, but because of its temperature. The desert in which this dune is located is just a few kilometers from the hottest place on earth, with temperatures exceeding 65 degrees Celsius. While it may be a little cooler at the top of the Rig-e Yalan dune, climbing the dune when the temperature is hot enough to fry eggs is still not recommended.

7. Cerro Blanco, Peru

The dune of Cerro Blanco, which nestles alone between the coastal and high Andes in South America, is generally considered to be the tallest single sand dune on the planet. White sand the only dune in this area, reaches a height of 2133 meters above sea level and towers above its surroundings rocky mountains and valleys. Despite the fact that, according to legend, during the times of the Incas this dune was sacred place, today this giant is usually used by tourists as perfect place for mastering sand surfing and off-road driving.

8. Mesquite Flats Dunes, California, USA

Despite the fact that less than one percent of the territory National Park Death Valley is covered in dunes, the Mesquite Flats sand dunes are probably the first thing that comes to mind when this valley is mentioned. These dunes, of course, do not claim to be the tallest, given that the highest of them is less than 30 meters high, but they are huge and stretch for kilometers, providing local residents and tourists have huge spaces for walking.

9. Rub` al Khali, Saudi Arabia

The dunes of Rub al-Khali, located in Saudi Arabia(Rub` al Khali literally translates to “empty quarter”) cover an area of 647,497 square kilometers. Sand dunes rise from the ground like waves in the sea, interspersed with vast plains of gypsum. A trip to these dunes will be enough to make you feel like “Lawrence of Arabia”, sitting on top of a 76-meter mountain of reddish quartz sand, enjoying the view of the endless desert.

10. Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, USA

No description of the dunes would be complete without mentioning the Great Sand Dunes located in Colorado. They are certainly not the most extensive in the world, or even the largest, but the Great Sand Dunes are nonetheless part of a unique natural contrast. Arid dunes slope down to babbling Medano Creek on one side and rise to rugged blue mountains on the other. Due to the fact that the local sands are so soft and spread over such a large area (77.7 square kilometers), this perfect place for surfing on the sand, sledding on the sand, and just sliding down like kids on the playground.

1. If you drive sixty kilometers from Bordeaux towards the coast, you can find an amazing piece of land that seems to have forgotten that it belongs to Europe...

2. The dune in Pyla is the largest sand dune in Europe.

3. The dune is located 60 km from the city of Bordeaux in the Arcachon Bay area in France. This is the largest dune in Europe. Its dimensions are truly African - the volume is 60,000,000 m³, 500 meters wide and it rises above sea level to a height of 130 meters.

The shape of the dune is very steep on the side facing the forest; paragliding is popular here. At the top there is a stunning view of the sea and a dense pine forest.

5. It is believed that it began to form 8,000 years ago under the influence of winds and tides, which pushed the purest sea sand from the ocean shallows onto land.

6. An interesting fact is that the dune is constantly moving towards the forest. The speed of movement is not constant. Each year the dune moves inland by 5 m. Over the past 57 years, the dune has moved a distance of about 280 meters.

7. This migration of the Great Dune has already buried more than 20 houses in its sands. In 1987, the road running through the northeastern part of the dune was closed after an avalanche of sand collapsed on part of it. Now this road has completely disappeared into the sand.

9. Climbing to the top of the dune is not easy, but the magnificent, simply mesmerizing view of the largest dune in Europe, the Bay of Arcachon and the Pyrenees Mountains, which are visible on a clear day, is worth the effort.

Deserts are considered deserted and lifeless, but at the same time they are incredibly beautiful, especially when viewed from above. Different types of sand, topography, wind and climate all create a colossal variety of landscapes. The wandering dunes form an endless number of ever-changing shapes. The photographs in this collection were taken by astronauts and satellites and capture the...

cheaptrip January 14, 2010
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The photographs in this collection were taken by astronauts and satellites and capture the most beautiful, most memorable, vast desert areas of our planet.

Algerian Sand Sea

The sand sea (Erg) of Issaouane extends over 39,000 sq. km. in eastern Algeria. This sand sea in the middle of the Sahara Desert is made up of three types of dunes. Mega-dunes, also known as whalebacks, formed over hundreds of thousands of years and reach hundreds of kilometers in length. Mesoscale dunes form the top of mega-dunes, and their gradual displacement can only be noticed over decades. Smaller dunes form around larger dunes. They take on different shapes under the influence of winds and are in constant motion.

In a photograph taken by ISS astronauts in 2005, the mesoscale dunes took the form of starfish dunes and crescent dunes.

*Click to see higher resolution photo

In the photograph taken by ISS astronauts in 2006, huge rounded shapes are mega-dunes. The smallest dunes look like wrinkles in the background big dunes.

Imperial Dunes of California

The Algodon Dune Field, located on the border between Mexico and Arizona with California, reaches a width of almost 10 km and stretches for 70 km. These dunes are best known as the dunes of the planet Tatooine in the universe. Star Wars. In their open spaces there is an official National Park, which is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The only man-made structure among the dunes is the American Canal, which cuts its way through the dunes near their rise near the agricultural lands of Mexico. It can be seen on the right in the photo. The photo was taken by astronauts aboard the ISS in 2005.

White Sands in New Mexico

The sands of the dunes of White Sands National Monument are particles of gypsum, an evaporite mineral that accumulated as a result of the evaporation of large masses of water. In place of these dunes, a shallow sea dried up several hundred million years ago. Several thousand years ago, a huge lake evaporated here. Such dunes are quite rare because gypsum usually dissolves easily in water and is subsequently carried by rivers. Here its particles were preserved due to the fact that there is no access to the sea from the basin where they are located. In turn, the water from the rivers flowing into this basin dried up, and the gypsum was not washed out.

The dunes in southern New Mexico cover an area of more than 700 square kilometers. Almost half of the area is protected by a national park. This photograph of the area was taken by the Advanced Land Imager on NASA's Earth Observing-1 satellite.

Rub al-Khali Desert (Empty Quarter) in Saudi Arabia

This aptly named desert is the largest in the world sandy sea and covers an area of more than 580,000 square kilometers. The photo shows a part of it located in Saudi Arabia, but this sea is also located in Yemen, Oman and the UAE.

The gray and white patches between the pink sands are plains covered with dry salt. The temperature in Rub al-Khali (literally translated as “empty quarter”) reaches 54 °C. Only a few species of plants, spiders and rodents that live here can survive in such heat. The sand covers one of the most oil-rich areas in the world.

This photo was taken in 2001. using Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) on the NASA/USGS Landsat 7 satellite. Below is a close-up photo of the dunes. You can learn more about the Rub al-Khali in this National Geographic video.

Dunes of Tifernine in Algeria

This part of the Sahara Desert, located in eastern Algeria, adjoins the dark gray Tinrkhert Plateau. On top of the old large dunes, star dunes were formed by the action of the winds, and sedimentary rocks, along with salt, accumulated in small depressions between the dunes. The climate is now dry and hot, but river-carved valleys along the edge of the plateau indicate a wetter climate in the past.

This photo was taken by astronauts aboard the ISS in August 2009.

Ounyanga Lakes, Chad

These finger-shaped lakes represent what remains of one big lake, which began to decrease approximately 5.5 thousand years ago. The sand was blown by the wind and partially filled the lake basin, breaking it into several separate ones. Nine out of ten lakes are fresh, drawing water from an aquifer underground. Ancient pollen found among sediment in the lakes showed that the area once had a temperate tropical climate.

The tallest and oldest dunes in the world

In the Namib Desert you can find dunes about three hundred meters high. They were carved by winds blowing along the Atlantic coast of Namibia. The Namib-Naukluft National Park, pictured here, is one of Africa's largest parks. It is home to hyenas, jackals, geckos and other rare animals. In addition, this desert is considered one of the oldest in the world - the climate here was dry 55 million years ago. Today, its area receives an average of only 6 cm of precipitation per year.

The following photograph was taken in 2000 by the Landsat-7 satellite operated by NASA and the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey).

This topographic image was created by combining a photograph taken in 2002 with topological data obtained by ASTER equipment from the Terra satellite. In 2009, it celebrated its tenth anniversary.

Great Sand Dunes of Colorado

This collection of dunes, located near the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in southern Colorado, was designated a national monument in 1932 and a national park in 2004. Every year it is visited by 300 thousand visitors. Although these dunes cover an area of just under 80 square kilometers, they reach 230 m in height and are the tallest dunes in the United States.

This photo of Bolshie National Park sand dunes(top) was taken by the Ikonos sensor on board the GeoEye satellite in 2005.

The lightly colored sand of the dunes was formed from sedimentary rock that was gradually eroded by the adjacent mountains and deposited in the lake. The lake periodically dried up, and the wind blew rocks from its bottom.

And this one - by ISS astronauts in 2007.

Saktoria: ciliates that have lost their cilia

Smooth, almost sandless, flat-bottomed bowls, bordered by huge dunes, which in turn are covered by small jagged dunes, resemble a honeycomb in the heart of the Sahara.

The Murzuq Sand Sea in Libya contains numerous rows of these large dunes called "draas". The smaller dunes, which can be seen in the photo below, consist of many star dunes, linear longitudinal dunes and curved transverse dunes. The weathered side of smaller dunes is smoother and gentler than the opposite side. This photo was taken by ISS astronauts in December 2008.

Lake Eyre in Australia

Heavy rains in early 2009 began to fill the bed of this huge dry lake in Queensland's Simpson Desert. In the photo you can see the water flowing into the lake. It was taken on May 9 by the Landsat-5 satellite. Along with the water, plants and thousands of birds appear.

The photo below, taken by satellite on February 18, shows how dry the area remains. most of the year.

Outcrops in the Sahara

Sandy rivers, capped by dunes, meander around exposed rock in this very dry and barren stretch of the Sahara in Libya. This photograph was taken by the Terra satellite in 2002.

Scars of Australia

This part of the Simpson Desert Northern Territory Australia is covered with desert bush, which gives it a greenish tint and prevents the winds from moving the dunes. However, a fire that occurred here a year before this photo was taken in 2002 burned away some of the vegetation, exposing the sands underneath.

The strange pattern in the sand must have been caused by a 90-degree turn in the direction of the winds during the fire. This photo was taken by ISS astronauts.

(dune du Pilat), located near the city of Arcachon.

It is the highest dune in Europe, with a constantly changing height ranging from 110 to 130 meters. From a satellite, the dune looks like this.

And this is a view of the entire three-kilometer dune from a quadcopter (from Wikipedia).

The dune began to form about 4 thousand years ago: under the influence of stormy winds in the Bay of Biscay, quicksand began to layer and gradually move towards nearby settlements.

Where did the sand even come from? Weathering and bay waters destroyed mountain ranges In the Central Pyrenees, the stone turned into sand, which was carried into the sea by rivers, and the tides (there are ebbs and flows here) returned the sand back. The wind from the bay drove the sand towards land; in the path of the sand there were forests - this is how the dune grew.

At some point, Napoleon issued a decree that abundant forests should be planted around the dunes to protect the territories. And there was something to protect: the dune kept advancing and advancing, in the thirties of the last century it even managed to swallow an entire house, which was very imprudently built not far from it on the way of advance.

The width of the dune is about 600 meters, it has a long gentle slope on the sea side and a fairly steep slope (up to 30 degrees) on the forest side.

So we arrived at the reserve, built on the leeward side of the dune.

The weather was cloudy and there were occasional heavy rains, but we still hoped to go up.

National park in front of the dune. It has a cafe and some amenities, but the cafe, of course, is not open in winter, there are very few tourists in winter, and the weather is not conducive to visits. But in the summer there is a continuous flow of tourists here, and about two million people visit the dune every year.

Now we have already approached the dune. Do you see the top of a buried tree in the center of the frame? So, a few years ago there was a cafe under this tree. You can imagine how fast the dune advances.

At first the climb is relatively flat, then it becomes very steep and there you have to go not “head-on”, but diagonally to the side: it takes longer to climb, but it’s a little easier.

And the situation was, to be honest, very unfavorable: on the dune, even when climbing, a very strong wind was blowing, which threw sand in the face. And when we went upstairs, the wind was absolutely hurricane-force: it practically knocked me off my feet and tore my smartphone out of my hands: I could barely hold it.

This is a view of the forest from the top of the dune.

And this is the view for which we climbed up - the Bay of Biscay. It’s good that I managed to take at least one shot - it was also raining there, the situation was somewhat extreme.

In the summer, of course, it's a completely different matter. The wind is very light, and for tourists they also lay a staircase of 260 steps. Tourists go up barefoot (the sand will get into any shoes) and then walk along the three-kilometer dune area.