The Virgin Sands: a composed barrier fringing the Hel Peninsula

Abstract

The Virgin, Sands form the 6.5 km long, accumulative bar which is located in the shadow of the HeI Peninsula, within the Inner Puck Bay (Baltic Sea). Its surface is covered with extensive megaripples, the shape of which is similar to parabolic dunes. The bar of the Virgin Sands, as a longshore barrier, was originated in the early stage of the Hel Peninsula development, in the Holocene during the Littorina Transgression. The origin of the megaripples is connected with catastrophic breaks of Hel Peninsula by uprisen waters of the open Baltic Sea. The streams which tore the Het Peninsula encroached the Inner Puck Bay and transported big masses of the sand, accumulated as the megaripples on the surface of the Virgin Sands.