• Erra Matti Dibbalu, also known as the Red Sand Dunes, located along the coast near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, has recently been included in the UNESCO Tentative List of World Heritage Sites.
• First documented by British geologist William King in 1886, these rare coastal formations are celebrated for their unique geomorphological and archaeological importance.
• The dunes are composed of sand, silt, and clay, exhibiting a distinctive reddish hue due to natural oxidation over thousands of years.
• They represent the late Quaternary geologic age and display badland topography with varied features such as gullies, buried channels, beach ridges, paired terraces, wave-cut terraces, knick points, and waterfalls.
• The site also contains dendritic drainage patterns and sediment layers that document sea-level fluctuations and climatic changes over the late Quaternary period.
• Archaeological studies suggest an Upper Palaeolithic horizon dating back to the Late Pleistocene epoch (around 20,000 BC). Erra Matti Dibbalu is one of only three similar sites in the world, with the others located in Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu (Teri Sands).
• The Geological Survey of India declared it a National Geo-heritage Monument in 2016.
• Experts, however, warn that tourism and filming activities pose threats to the site’s preservation. Its inclusion in the UNESCO Tentative List highlights the global significance of this unique geological and archaeological treasure.