Aeolian Landforms in the White Sea Coast: a Review of Classification and Spatial Distribution

Abstract

This research provides classification and analysis of the spatial distribution of the Holocene aeolian landforms within the White Sea Coast. We identified 5 types of secondary dunes based on the interpretation of detailed satellite images, topographic charts and analysis of literary sources: foredune plains and beach ridges plains, cliff-top dunes, blowouts and parabolic dunes, transgressive dunefields, sand sheets. The dunes were formed mainly from the Middle-Late Holocene. They gravitate towards sandy shores, where post-glacial uplift rates didn’t exceed ~3 mm/year during the Middle-Late Holocene. The coastal dunes were formed in connection with sediments, which entered the coastal zone with solid river flow and from selective erosion of glacial deposits. The rhythms of aeolian processes activation in different parts of the White Sea Coast were non-synchronous.