16 Dune migration and encroachment
Andrew S. Goudie
16.1 Introduction
As Cooke et al. (1993, p. 339) remarked, ‘Mobility is a very
striking property of dunes, matched only by their sound-
production. Sound and movement ostensibly bring dunes
closer to life than anything else in the inorganic world.
Movement is inexorable and can be exasperating.’ While
this statement was made in the context of desert dunes,
coastal dunes have also proved to be a major cause of
exasperation, especially where deforestation, rabbit infes-
tation and other factors have caused them to become reac-
tivated. This was a favourite theme of G. P. Marsh in his
Man and Nature (1864), and attempts to control errant
dunes on mid-latitude shorelines, such as the Culbin
Sands of north east Scotland or the Landes in south west
France, go back a long way (Kittredge, 1948). The migra-
tion of dunes can lead to abandonment of settlements
(Figure 16.1), the overwhelming of agricultural land, the
infilling of canals, and the blocking of railway lines
(Figure 16.2), runways, and roads (see, for example, Han
et al., 2003; Dong et al., 2004). Although movement is a
natural and normal part of dune development, human pres-
sures, such as trampling, burning, and deforestation, can
make dunes less stable.
16.2 Methods of study
A whole array of methods has been developed to establish
dune field activity and the rates of dune migration. Chinese
workers (see Chapter 15) have successfully used ancient
archival data to identify phases of dune encroachment.
Topographic maps are another major source of information.
Air photographs have also been used to establish dune
movement histories over the last 90 or so years (Bailey
and Bristow, 2004; Forman et al., 2008), while GPS ena-
bles rapid and accurate remapping of dunes that have been
Geomorphological Hazards and Disaster Prevention, eds. Irasema Alcántara-Ayala and Andrew S. Goudie. Published by
Cambridge University Press. © Cambridge University Press 2010.
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identified on old maps and air photographs (see, for exam-
ple, Stokes et al., 1999). Increasing use is being made of
remotely sensed imagery to monitor dune migration (Yao
et al., 2007). Dune movement can also be monitored on the
ground using stakes, markers, and pins (Bristow and
Lancaster, 2004; Hugenholtz et al., 2009), as has been
done in the context of the Namib by Livingstone (1989).
Radiocarbon dates on buried trees can also be used (Wiles
et al., 2003). In addition, optical dating can be employed to
establish rates of dune accumulation and movement
(Stokes and Bray, 2004), and this can be used in tandem
with ground penetrating radar (GPR) (Bristow et al., 2005,
2007). Data from such sources are increasingly being incor-
porated into GIS data bases (Marín et al., 2005; Mitasova
et al., 2005).
16.3 Rates of dune movement
Barchan dunes, isolated crescentic features that are trans-
verse to the dominant winds and have their horns facing in
the direction of movement, are the most studied of dune
types with respect to rates. They are also one of the most
dangerous of dune types because of their ability, particu-
larly if small, to move at high velocities. Many barchans
move at rates of some tens of metres per year and small
barchans move more quickly than large barchans. Cooke
et al. (1993, p. 23) show a large number of plots of dune
height against rates of dune movement. As Thomas (1992)
explained, ‘Size dependency is not surprising as the whole
dune migrates forward by a “rolling” process whereby
sediment exposed at the foot of the stoss slope is trans-
ported up to the dunecrest to be deposited on the slipface…
The larger the dune, therefore, the more sediment that has to
be moved per unit of forward movement.’ There is some
debate as to whether the form of the relationship between
dune size and rate of movement is linear or exponential.
199
 200 Andrew S. Goudie
FIGURE 16.1. Dune sand invading the old mining town of
Kolmanskop, near Luderitz, southern Namibia.
FIGURE 16.2. A disrupted railway line between Swakopmund
and Walvis Bay, central Namibia.
Rates of movement will also depend on wind energy con-
ditions, and Lancaster (1989, p. 94) has commented on the
very high rates of barchan movement in the southern
Namib for dunes of any particular size in comparison with
many other areas. He attributes this to the extremely vigo-
rous wind energy conditions in the coastal environment of
the area between Luderitz and Alexander Bay. Equally, in
his long-term study of rates of barchan movement in the
Libyan Desert of Egypt, Embabi (1986/7) found that dunes
at Kharga had between 1930 and 1961 moved on average
some 280 m, while those at Dakhla had averaged some
170 m. The explanation he offered was in terms of differ-
ences in sand drift potential between the two areas, with the
Kharga figure being 245 vector units compared with 73
vector units at Dakhla.
Data on the movement of linear dunes are much
sparser and much more difficult to interpret. In general,
however, linear dunes are less threatening than barchans
and they appear to undergo little movement of the dune
form as a whole (Thomas, 1992, p. 35). Active crests
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may occur on largely inactive plinths. Linear dunes,
may, however, undergo some lateral movement, as GPS
and optical dating studies in the Namib have shown
(Bristow et al., 2007). The amount of movement that
occurs on linear dunes may vary from decade to decade
in response to changes in vegetation cover and wind
strength (Bullard et al., 1996).
Data on the movement of coastal dunes include a study of
the Ceará Coast of north eastern Brazil by Jimenez et al.
(1999). They found average migration rates for coastal
barchans of 17.5 m per year, and 10 m per year for sand
sheets. Similarly, also in north east Brazil, Barbosa and
Dominguez (2004) found that zibar-type dunes moved at
between 20 and 24 m per year. Maia et al. (2005) found that
rates of dune migration in this part of Brazil were acceler-
ated considerably during El Niño events. In North Wales,
Bailey and Bristow (2004) found that at Aberffraw the
average rate of migration of parabolic dunes was 1 m per
year, with a maximum of only 3.6 m per year. At Cape Cod
in the north east of the USA, Forman et al. (2008) found that
rates of parabolic dune movement during a relatively dry
interval (1938–77) were about 4 m per year, but that
between 1987 and 2003 dune movement slowed to about
1 m per year in response to wetter conditions. In Denmark,
Anthonsen et al. (1996) found that a large parabolic dune
had migrated by approximately 1 km since AD 1887, but
that its shape had changed over that time in response to
changes in the wind regime. The migration of some inland
parabolic dunes in Colorado has also shown temporal var-
iability, with rates in dry years (30 m per year) being about
six times those in wet years (Marín et al., 2005). Indeed, the
occurrence of mega-droughts is very important in determin-
ing the degree of dune activity in the western USA (Hanson
et al., 2009). Data on rates of movement for transgressive
transverse ridges (sometimes called precipitation ridges) are
provided by Hesp and Thom (1990, p. 261), who suggest
that the rates of advance of their slipfaces may range from
almost stationary to as much as 10–20 m per year.
16.4 Control
The methods that are available for the control of blowing
sand and mobile dunes have been well reviewed by Watson
(1990). Four main techniques have been used to control
drifting sand:
(1) Promotion of the deposition of drifting sand (upwind of
the problem area) by such devices as ditches, barriers
and fences, and vegetation belts.
(2) Enhancement of the transportation of sand by means of
aerodynamic streamlining and surface treatments.
 Dune migration and encroachment
FIGURE 16.3. Sand fences constructed in an attempt to control the
movement of transverse (barchanoid) dunes near Walvis Bay,
Namibia.
(3) Reduction of the sand supply by surface treatments
(e.g. water spraying, chemical stabilizers, mulches),
fences, and vegetation strips. Among the plants that
can be used are marram grass (Ammophila arenaria),
Tamarix spp., Eucalyptus spp., Hippophae rham-
noides, Prosopis juliflora, and Acacia cyanophylla
(Pye and Tsoar, 1990, pp. 303–306).
(4) Deflection of the moving sand by fences, barriers and
tree belts.
With regard to the control of moving dunes, the main
techniques that are available are:
(1) Removal of the dunes by mechanical excavation and
transportation to a new location.
(2) The dissipation of a mobile dune by disrupting its
aerodynamic profile (a process termed dissipation) by
means of reshaping, trenching, or surface treatment.
(3) Dune immobilization by surface strips, fences, etc.
(Figure 16.3).
Frequently these techniques are not particularly success-
ful and very often the best solution is to site and design
engineering structures to allow free movement of sand
across them. Alternatively, by mapping different dune
types and knowing their direction and rate of movement,
structures should be located out of harm’s way. Avoidance
may be better than defence.
Various studies of the comparative effectiveness of dif-
ferent stabilization techniques have been undertaken in
recent years. For example, Zhang et al. (2004) found that
the best means of stabilizing moving dunes in Inner
Mongolia, China, were wheat-straw checkerboards and
the planting of Artemisia halodendron. This finding was
confirmed by a study in the Kerqin Sandy Land of northern
China (Li et al., 2009). Along a major highway in the
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201
Taklamakan desert, checkerboards, reed fences, and nylon
nets were found to be effective (Dong et al., 2004). In north
west Nigeria, Raji et al. (2004) found that shelterbelts were
the most effective technique, and were superior to mechan-
ical fencing. Some success has also been claimed for chem-
ical stabilizers (Han et al., 2007), and also for geotextiles
(Escalente and Pimentel, 2008). Some devices are prohib-
itively expensive (e.g. chemical fixers) (Dong et al., 2004),
while others, such as checkerboards, are not.
16.5 Conclusions
An array of techniques has been employed to try and
estimate the speed with which mobile dunes move, and
there are now plenty of data on this with respect to barch-
ans. Rates of dune movement depend on a variety of factors
of which dune type and dune size are important. However,
land cover changes, changes in wind energy conditions,
and changes in moisture levels mean that rates vary con-
siderably in time and space. Numerous techniques have
been developed to try to reduce problems posed by dune
mobility, though they have met mixed success, and can
sometimes be either costly or unsightly. Finally, it is likely
that in a warmer world dune activity may be greater. This is
a topic addressed briefly in Chapter 20.
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