This week in Satellite Geology: Time Warp!

35 years in 3.5 seconds

This features Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in the NE of Brazil. It displays spectacular interactions between a dynamic coastline and South America’s largest dune field. The video repeats several times, and we recommend focusing on a different location each time.

Notice how the coastline experiences net erosion in some locations and net deposition in other locations. Can you interpret what is driving those relative sea-level changes? The dunes are migrating at a high rate of speed, despite having a relatively high water table, with fresh-water lagoons often occupying the interdunal areas. Can you interpret where the sand in the dune field is coming from? What else can you see? Let us know in the comments!

We will continue posting these satellite geology posts weekly, so please let us know if you have any suggestions! Coordinates are -2.4349717, -43.127991. North is up. Video is about 25 km wide. All data sourced from Google Earth.

свернуть