Picture of the Day: The 20,000 Year Old ‘Dragon Dune’ That Protects a City

In Iquique, Chile lies a 20,000-year-old, 320 m (1,050 ft) tall sand dune that overlooks the city

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Photograph by Diego Delso, Wikimedia Commons, License CC-BY-SA 4.0

 

In the city of Iquique, in northern Chile, lies a 20,000-year-old sand dune that was originally formed by coastal winds when the sea level was once 100 meters further inland.

Dubbed Cerro Dragón (‘Dragon Dune’), it measures 6.4 km (4 mi.) long, 320 m (350 yd) high and ranges between 150 and 500 m (160-600 yd) wide. According to Wikipedia, it was officially named a Natural Sanctuary in 2005 and is considered stable; a comforting thought for the 185,000+ residents below.

To see the full resolution, 8599 × 4461 pixel photo, click here. Photograph by Diego Delso.

 

 

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