Belvedere-San Marco dunes

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The dunes of Belvedere-San Marco are up to 12 m high, heavily forested dunes on the Strada Statale 352 Cervignano - Grado in north-eastern Northern Italy.

They consist predominantly of strongly cemented sand, but to a small extent also of diffuse stone- calcium layers. The dunes extend from north-east to south-west or north-north-east to south-south-west, but they extend in foothills into the Grado lagoon , where they form the main islands. These are the Isola di Gorgo, Villanova, Volpera, Volperassa, Montaron, then the Isola dei Busiari and San Pietro d'Orio. Older river beds formed the subsoil, a vast plain on which the dunes were formed; the dunes were formed before the Holocene . By means of thermoluminescence , it was possible to detect an origin before the Würm glacial period , so they are well over 115,000 years old. Archaeological finds date from the younger Bronze Age , i.e. the period between 1500 and 1300 BC. Chr.

For a long time, their emergence was seen in connection with an older coastline, which accordingly stretched in the back of the dunes and ran broadly from east to west. However, recent investigations in the area between the mouths of the Tagliamento and the Isonzo have raised serious doubts. It is now assumed that the formation of the dunes does not go back to the course of the coast, but to the river system. The Paleo-Isonzo initially flowed from northeast to southwest, then from north-northeast to south-southwest and finally from north to south, while at the same time shifting further and further east. This in turn could be due to seismic activity in connection with a terrain elevation or subsidence in the east and west. Human activities are also likely to have had a significant impact on the shape and development of the dunes. Overall, the region's morphology is considered one of the most controversial in the country.

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Coordinates: 45 ° 43 '55.2 "  N , 13 ° 22' 5.4"  E