Spanish Conquest May Have Altered Peru's Shoreline

sciencehabit (1205606) writes "The Spanish conquest of the Inca had a profound effect on Peru's indigenous people, but a new study reveals that it also had an unexpected impact on the land itself. Before the Spaniards arrived, inhabitants of the arid northern Peruvian coast clad massive sand dune-like ridges with an accidental form of 'armor': millions of discarded mollusk shells, which protected the ridges from erosion for nearly 4700 years and produced a vast corrugated landscape that is visible from space. This incidental landscape protection came to a swift end, however, after diseases brought by Spanish colonists decimated the local population and after colonial officials resettled the survivors inland. Without humans to create the protective covering, newly formed beach ridges simply eroded and vanished."

Comments

Weren't the Peruvians altering the coast?

[Anonymous Coward]

Weren't the Peruvians altering the coast (in a way that would not be allowed in US wetlands) and when the Spanish came the coast was returned to nature?

Re:Weren't the Peruvians altering the coast?

[sunking2]

It's ok when it's done by the indigenous people. It's only when the white man does it that it's bad.

Hey that's not bad....

[Rick Zeman]

This incidental landscape protection came to a swift end, however, after diseases brought by Spanish colonists decimated the local population

Can't be too bad since decimate means reduce by a 10th....