Regional variation in the dynamics of Estonia's coastal landscapes

Lake Peipsi is one of the largest inland water bodies in Europe. In the geological past, it was much bigger, flooding vast areas to the north of the contemporary lake. In the proglacial lakes formed behind the retreating glacier, large amounts of sand and silt accumulated, providing source material for various aeolian deposits and landforms, such as coversand hillocks, blowouts, deflation hollows, foredunes, inland and coastal dunes, and wind-eroded plains. Because of land uplift they are of different age (from the Late Glacial up to the present) and structure. The oldest dunes in the area were formed in severe climatic conditions of the Younger Dryas and the Early pre-Boreal. Near the contemporary shoreline of Lake Peipsi, the rhythmically changing water level has strongly influenced the aeolian redistribution of sediments. Here specific “basket-trap” dunes were formed behind rather huge parabolic wind ditches, which developed at sites where the vegetation cover had been locally breached by wave erosion, ice action, or human influence. In different parts of individual dunes variations in grain size and mineral composition are slight, but regional differences are noteworthy. The northern coast of Lake Peipsi has a great recreational value.