Some coastal sand dunes, such as the Himi, Uchinada, Katayamazu and Sanribama dunes, are distributed widely along the coast of the Japan Sea in the central Japan. I have made for about two decades research of the coastal sand dunes throughout the Japanese Islands, especially the Hokuriku district, from the view points of the age of formation of sand dunes, palaeoenvironment during the time of the formation of sand dunes and the relationship between the age of formation and change of sea-level.
In this article I have proved the following six items in regard to the coastal sand dunes of the Hokuriku district:
(1) Summary of some gists of the distribution, arrangement, basement and age of formation of the coastal sand dunes.
(2) The age of formation of the coastal sand dunes which are distributed in the Hokuriku district is divided into seven periods as follows: First period-the Late Pleistocene Riss/Würm Interglacial age, Hiradoko stage; Second period-the late substage of the Earliest Jomonian age to the early substage of the Early Jomonian age; Third period-the late substage of the Early Jomonian age, the highest sea-level stage of the Flandrian transgression age; Fourth period-the earliest substage of the Middle Jomonian age; Fifth period-the Late Jomonian age to Yayoian age; Sixth period-the early substage of the Tumulusian age, the old tomb age, the Minor transgression age; Seventh period-the middle Muromachi age. Among them, the time when larger dunes were formed is the fourth, fifth and sixth periods.
(3) Judging from the view point of relationship between the formation of the coastal sand dunes and the palaeoenvironment in the time of formation, both the palaeotemperature and palaeomoisture during the Holocene epoch were not in direct connection with the formation of the coastal sand dunes.
(4) The necessary conditions for the formation of the coastal sand dunes are the following: (a) supply of sand, (b) migration of sand, and (c) sedimentation of sand. The conditions were prescribed by a position of strand line, it needs the fix of the position of the strand line for the formation of the coastal sand dunes.
(5) From the view point of relationship between the change of sea-level and the formation of the coastal sand dunes, when the environment was changed topographically by the change of sea-level, a scale of sand dune may be changed by the fact that the above-mentioned three conditions are promoted or hindered under this changed environment. Roughly speaking, better conditions for the formation of sand dune may be just after the time when a sea-level changes from rising to lowering.
(6) The relationship between the relative change of sea-level, the change of palaeoenvironment and the formation of the coastal sand dunes in every stage of the Holocene epoch is described in this article in the concrete.
