ERRA MATTI DIBBALU

Current Context: Andhra Pradesh’s Erra Matti Dibbalu (Red Sand Dunes) have recently been included in the UNESCO Tentative List of World Heritage Sites.

ABOUT ERRA MATTI DIBBALU

• Location: Near Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
• Discovered by: British geologist William King in 1886
• Declared as: National Geo-heritage Monument by Geological Survey of India in 2016

Key Features:

• Composed of sand, silt, and clay with a distinct red colour due to natural oxidation
• Represent the late Quaternary geologic age
• Show unique badland topography with gullies, dunes, buried channels, beach ridges, wave-cut terraces, etc.
• Depict real-time climate change effects and geological evolution
• Archaeological significance: Artefacts from the Upper Palaeolithic period (around 20,000 BC) found
• Only two similar sites exist globally — one in Sri Lanka and one in Tamil Nadu (Teri Sands)
• Faces threats from uncontrolled tourism and filming activities