Coastal sand dunes of southeast Sri Lanka

Sand dunes are the most common landforms of the Sri .Lankan coasts even though little attention has been paid to them in the field of geomorphological studies in the island. In the first part of this study.the large-scale factors governing the sand dune formation are analysed, as an introduction to the aeolian environment of thc SE coast. In the second part, using an aerospace survey supported by field work, the lateral and vertical distribution of dunes along the coast are dcscnbcd. The other relevant deposits known as red earth formation has been analysed in the third part of the study, in order to assess whether they were sand dunes in the past. Comparison of the granulametric properties unravels that the red earth formation once stood as dunes along the SE coast.