noun
definition
A ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind.
Examples of dunes in a Sentence
Heat waves blurred the dunes around them.
The town stands on a sandy plain, and there are sand dunes within the city limits.
The sun turned the dunes orange red and then quickly sank, leaving them in pre-moon darkness.
The tower of Notre Dame, dating from 1180, is a landmark across the dunes, and the church behind it, although a shell, merits inspection.
There are three natural divisions - foreshore and sand-dunes, inner dunes and the geest grounds, and low fens and clay lands.
In fact, one quarter of the whole kingdom, consisting of the provinces of North and South Holland, the western portion of Utrecht as far as the Vaart Rhine, Zeeland, except the southern part of ZeelandFlanders, and the north-west part of North Brabant, lies below the Amsterdam zero; and altogether 38% of the country, or all that part lying west of a line drawn through Groningen, Utrecht and Antwerp, lies within one metre above the Amsterdam zero and would be submerged if the sea broke down the barrier of dunes and dikes.
The moon peeked shyly over the dunes and moved searching fingers of dim light across the dunes.
She watched the dunes anxiously for Bordeaux.
A sandy beach or desert owes its character to the mobility of its constituent sand-grains, which are readily drifted and piled up in the form of dunes.
In the depressions of the dunes and on' the geest grounds at their foot, small woods have been planted in places, and in this sheltered strip market-gardening and horticulture are practised.
The Y, which was formerly an inlet of the Zuider Zee, was drained, and the North Sea ship canal was formed in its stead (1865-1876), and carried through the dunes to Ymuiden.
Two miles north of this place along the dunes is Zeebrugge, the point at which the new ship-canal from Bruges enters the North Sea.
Besides the dunes the only hilly regions of Holland are the southern half of the province of Limburg, the neighbourhood of Nijmwegen, Reliefand the hills of Utrecht, including the Gooi hills, the Veluwe region in Gelderland, the isolated hills in the middle and levels.
But Holland's chief protection against inundation is its long line of sand dunes, in which only two real breaches have been effected during the centuries of erosion.
In other parts of the coast the dunes, though not pierced through, have become so wasted by erosion as to require artificial strengthening.
Owing to the obstruction which they offer to drifting sands, artificial dunes are in course of time formed about them, and in this way they become at once more effective and less costly to maintain.
The firm and regular dunes which now run from Petten to Kallantsoog (formerly an island), and thence northwards to Huisduinen, were thus formed about the Zyper (1617) and Koegras (1610) dikes respectively.
From Huisduinen to Nieuwediep the dunes are replaced by the famous Helder seawall.
The prevalence of south-west winds during nine months of the year and of north-west during three (April - June) has a strong influence on the temperature and rainfall, tides, river mouths and outlets, and also, geologically, on dunes and sand drifts, and on fens and the accumulation of clay on the coast.
Roebuck and deer are found in a wild state in Gelderland and Overysel, foxes are plentiful in the dry wooded regions on the borders of the country, and hares and rabbits in the dunes and other sandy stretches.
These are, namely, the heath-lands, pasture-lands, dunes and coasts.
The large ship canals to Rotterdam and Amsterdam, called the New Waterway and the North Sea canal respectively, were constructed in 1866-1872 and 1865-1876 at a cost of 21 and 3 million pounds sterling, the former by widening the channel of the Scheur north of Rozenburg, and cutting across the Hook of Holland, the latter by utilizing the bed of the Y and cutting through the dunes at Ymuiden.
Horticulture and market-gardening are of a high order, and flourish especially on the low fen soil and geest grounds along the foot of the dunes in the provinces of North and South Holland.
A desperate combat took place on the dunes between forces of equal strength and valour.
The land forms of a desert are exceedingly characteristic. Surface erosion is chiefly due to rapid changes of temperature through a wide range, and to the action of wind transferring sand and dust, often in the form of "dunes" resembling the waves of the sea.
A great difference, however, is to be remarked between the coasts of the North Sea and those of the Baltic. On the former, where the sea has broken up the ranges of dunes formed in bygone times, and divided them into separate islands, the mainland has to be protected by massive dikes, while the Frisian Islands are being gradually washed away by the waters.
East of the oases of Baharia and Farafra is a very striking line of these sand dunes; rarely more than 3 miles wide, it extends almost continuously from Moghara in the north, passing along the west side of Kharga Oasis to a point near the Nile in the neighborhood of Abu Siinbelhaving thus a length of nearly 550 m.
Tories were active in New Jersey throughout the struggle; among them were bands known as " Pine Robbers," who hid in the pines or along the dunes by day and made their raids at night.
They occur as lines of dunes formed of rounded grains of quartz, and lie in the direction of the prevalent wind, usually being of small breadth as compared with their length; but in certain areas, such as that lying S.W.
From Nieuwe Diep to Fort Erfprins on the west side of the town, a distance of about 5 m., stretches the great sea-dike which here takes the place of the dunes.
A victory in the Dunes by Turenne, now reinstalled in honor, and above all the conquest of the Flemish seaboard, were the results (June 1658); but when, in order to prevent the emperors intervention in the Netherlands, Mazarin attempted, on the death of Ferdinand III., to wrest the Empire from the Habsburgs, he was foiled by the gold of the Spanish envoy Peflaranda (1657).
In places the desert approaches close to the river on both banks and immense sand dunes fill the horizon.
Save in rare instances, however, they have long ceased to be shifting dunes; for, with the cessation of prairie fires and the increase of settlement, they have become well grassed over and stable; although sand-draws, and even occasional " blow-outs" scooped by the winds in the summits or sides of the hills are still characteristic landmarks.
Other plants, typical of waste ground in general, will also rapidly colonize bare patches on the dunes.
In high summer, the dried lichens and mosses give the dunes a very crunchy texture, which is almost like walking on crisps.
Dunes and spinifex grass give way to smooth rock walls that rise suddenly from the red earth.
He squinted at the sparkling white dunes.
Cassie followed, eyeing the dunes suspiciously.
His eyes constantly roved over the dunes and his rifle lay across his lap, ready for use.
Each carrying two canteens, a rifle and a lantern, they started off into the long shadows of the sand dunes.
When the ache had left her legs numb, and her breath was no longer coming in gasps, they started out again - across sand dunes - up and down.
Farther south-east, a line of sand dunes, covering the ruins of ancient villas, marks the coastline of the Roman period.
Tramways connect Alkmaar with Egmond and with the pretty summer resort of Bergen, which lies sheltered by woods and dunes.
Off the west coast, which is very irregular, lie the islands of Riigen, Usedom and Wollin; the coast of Farther Pomerania is smooth in outline and is bordered with dunes, or sandbanks.
The latter is fringed throughout its whole length by a chain of dunes, which rise in places to a height of nearly 200 ft.
The natural division into dunes, geest grounds, and clay and low fen holds for South as well as for North Holland.
At the foot of the dunes are the old towns and villages of Sassenheim, close to which are slight remains of the ancient castle of Teilingen (12th century), in which the countess Jacoba of Bavaria died in 1433.
The chapel of Notre-Dame des Dunes possesses a small image, which is the object of a well-known pilgrimage.
In 1658 Turenne's victory of the Dunes gave it into the hands of the French and it was ceded to England.
On the well-wooded fringe of the dunes on the west side of the island are the two villages of Renesse and Haamstede, the seats in former days of the two powerful lordships of the same name.