of warmer, wetter climate resulted in widespread dune stabilization and soil
development, while relatively cold periods with lower levels of precipitation are
associated with increased mobility (e.g., Wilson et al. 2001). The so-called Little
Ice Age (1450–1850), for example, is well documented as a time of widespread
dune mobility in northwest Europe (Pye 2001), although this period is also
associated with widespread cutting of forests, over-use of dunes, and population
expansion (e.g., Knight and Burningham 2011). However, today’s dunes are
characterized by exceptionally high levels of stability, which seems to be due to
the fact that climatic and geomorphological factors have been enhanced by
widespread artificial stabilization measures. On the other hand, it could be argued
that the geomorphological maturity of dune systems is not reflected in the maturity
Fig. 8.1 Locations of sand dune sites in Wales. Site names are given in Table 8.1. OS base map
reproduced with permission of HMSO. Crown copyright reserved. CCW license No. 100018813
(Scale 1: 1253585.5)
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P. Rhind et al.