The Dutchman's Cap ( lt, Olando kepurė) is a hill with a 24.4 m high
bluff, which is in
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
's
Seaside Regional Park, near
Karklė and 2 km north of
Giruliai on the
Baltic Sea coast. It was created 12000–15000 years ago during the last Baltic glaciation.
The name stems from an alleged similarity of the high bank to a
mariner's cap
A mariner's cap, variations of which are known as skipper cap, Greek fisherman's cap, fiddler cap or Breton cap, Lenin cap and Mao cap, is a soft, flat-topped cap with a small visor, usually made from black or navy blue wool felt, but also occas ...
.
The hill is a parabolic
dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...
created by
aeolian processes on a
moraine
A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...
ridge. The location is now subject to strong erosion by the Baltic Sea, which is exposing various-sized
boulders from the moraine. As a consequence, boulder rubble has accumulated on the so-called beach. As the bluff's base is destroyed, earth slips down the bluff's entire face, in an example of
mass wasting.
The Dutchman's Cap has long been a navigational guide for sailors and fishermen, and so in the early 19th century, markers were erected here, and have been shown on charts ever since. A view of the sea with a steep shoreline and stony beaches opens up here. The top of the bluff is a good place to watch birds flying above the sea.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutchman's Cap
Cliffs of Lithuania
Hills of Lithuania