Cerro El Dragón

by Claudia Blauensteiner

In the Atacama coastal desert in Northern Chile, close to the city of Iquique, there is a unique dune, locally known as Cerro El Dragón - dragon hill in English. It is located at the western side of the Andes, between the Pacific Ocean and the coast range. This impressive accumulation of sand rises up to 230 m above sea level, is four kilometres long and one kilometre wide in average. It is easy to climb Cerro Dragón starting from Iquique, whereas the best overviews can be obtained from the highway leading up to Alto Hospicio, and particularly from the Mirador Alto Hospicio.

Evolution and dynamics of the Cerro El Dragón

The photo comparison indicates that the Cerro El Dragón has hardly changed during a period of more than 11 years. Indeed, the dune does currently not receive sand supply and remains relatively stable in its position and shape also on the long term. However, this was not always the case.

Try to find one or more explanations for its evolution by exploring the following questions:

Where did the sand deposited in the dune come from?
Which role does the surrounding topography play for the location of the dune? Check the photos to find a special feature in the surrounding landscape!
Which kinds of winds do appear in coastal regions and how do they contribute to the formation of the dune?

24.09.2006

Click on the arrows or in the photo in order to compare the position and shape of the dune between the years 2006 and 2018.

Show solution

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Travel through time and explore the geological history of the Cerro El Dragón.

The dune Cerro El Dragón is located on a marine terrace between the coastal cordillera (in the east) and the Pacific Ocean (in the west). However, 20 million years ago the dune was not yet formed.

A photographic journey to Cerro El Dragón

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Click on the arrows or in the photo in order to change between different views of Cerro El Dragón.

View to the dune and farther in southern direction. The steep, rocky coast of the coast range is clearly visible in the left portion of the image.

From a dump site to a protected area

2007

Even though the Cerro El Dragón has been declared a protected area in 2005, it was more and more converted to an informal dump site. Tons of waste from construction sites, old tyres, tubes, bags, doestic waste, and electric devices were dumped illegaly behind the dune. In 2015, a comprehensive campaign was initiated in order to remove the dump site from the protected area.

Switch between the satellite images from 2007 and 2018 in order to compare the situation before and after the removal of the dump site.

Videos with further pieces of information on this issue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzUpMT5djf0 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDH2f-WFNb0.

Instituto Geografíco Militar (2004): Duna Cerro Dragón de Iquique. Santuario de la Naturaleza en el desierto litoral del Norte de Chile. Santiago [Access source]

Paskoff, R. (2005): A unique costal dune in the Atacama desert. The Cerro El Dragón, Iquique, Chile. Journal of Coastal Research 42: 63-67 [Access source]

This contribution was slightly revised, extended, and translated from German by Martin Mergili.