Morphology and architecture of a late Pleistocene cliff‐front dune, Mallorca, Western Mediterranean

Abstract

ABSTRACT Cliff‐front dunes are a common coastal feature, but this is the first time that the structures indicative of their formation are documented. A late Pleistocene cliff‐front dune in southern Mallorca has been studied. Owing to early lithification of the calcarenite, its morphology is well preserved. The dune occurs in front of a curved, near‐vertical coastal cliff, but the bedform cannot be classified as a fixed echo dune. The dune grew with time and its brinkline gradually moved closer to the cliff front. In the final stage of evolution the top of the dune reached a height of at least 23 m. The dune is composed of wind‐ripple strata. These strata are arranged in critical to supercritical climbing‐dune cross‐stratification recording its growth stages. The angle of climb of the dune increases toward the cliff and reaches 50°. The morphological features of cliff‐front dunes result from both cliff slope and whether the cliff front is curved or straight.