Huge stretch of sand dunes spotted off Aussie east coast

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SYDNEY, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The special composition of a large stretch of ancient sand dunes discovered in waters off Australia's east coast helped it remain remarkably well-preserved despite being submerged by rising seas 12,000 years ago, pointing to a better understanding of the major geological features, according to the latest research.

"They were originally thought to be part of an ancient reef," University of Sydney researcher Tiago Passos was quoted by local media as saying on Wednesday.

The 70-km stretch of dunes spotted on the ocean bed between Queensland state's Fraser and Moreton islands, is made up of grains containing calcium carbonate instead of quartz, which makes up most of the world's sand dunes today, the ABC news channel cited the latest findings as showing.

Passos analyzed images and samples of rock-like structures identified via sonar imaging in an expedition to the iconic Great Barrier Reef and found that the curved features were not a reef but dunes made of coarse grains of sand, reported the channel.

The carbonate grains were cemented into rock through physical and chemical changes that helped preserve the ancient dunes, according to Passos and his team.

Other present-day dunes are not likely to remain intact after being inundated by rising seas, said Passos.

"They would be eroded as they don't have enough carbonate content to turn them into rock," he said. The findings are set to be published in the Australian Journal of Earth Sciences.

The latest study could help scientists understand how sand dunes form, University of Queensland researcher Kevin Welsh told the channel.

"It shows these parabolic sand dunes can form under quite different conditions and with different materials," he said. Enditem

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