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Lençóis
Maranhenses
National
Park (Parque
Nacional
dos
Lençóis
Maranhenses)
is
a national
park located
in Maranhão state
in
northeastern Brazil,
just
east
of
the Baía
de
São
José.
Protected
on
June
2,
1981,
the
155,000 ha
(380,000-acre)
park
includes
70 km
(43 mi)
of
coastline,
and
an
interior
composed
of
rolling
sand
dunes.
During
the
rainy
season,
the
valleys
among
the
dunes
fill
with
freshwater
lagoons,
prevented
from
draining
due
to
the
impermeable
rock
beneath.
The
park
is
home
to
a
range
of
species,
including
four listed
as
endangered,
and
has
become
a
popular
destination
for ecotourists.
The
park
is
located
on
the
northeastern
coast
of
Brazil
in
the
state
of
Maranhão
along
the
eastern
coast,
bordered
by
70
kilometres
(43 mi)
of
beaches
along
Atlantic
Ocean.:80 Inland,
it
is
bordered
by
the Parnaíba
River,
the São
José
Basin,
and
the
rivers
of Itapecuru, Munim,
and Periá.:80 The
park
encompasses
an
area
of
155,000
hectares
(380,000
acres),
composed
mainly
of
expansive
coastal
dune
fields,
which
formed
during
the
late Quaternary
period.:79
While
much
of
the
park
has
the
appearance
of
a
desert,
the
area
receives
about
1,200
millimetres
(47 in)
of
rain
per
year,
while
deserts,
by
definition,
receive
less
than
250
millimetres
(10 in)
annually.About
70%
of
this
rainfall
occurs
between
the
months
of
January
and
May.
The
sand
is
carried
to
the
park
from
the
interior
of
the
continent
by
the
Parnaíba
and Preguiças rivers,
where
it
is
then
driven
back
inland
up
to
50
kilometres
(31 mi)
by
winds,
creating
a
series
of
sand
dunes
rising
as
much
as
40
metres
(130 ft)
tall.During
the
rainy
season,
between
the
months
of
January
and
June,
the
rainstorms
fill
the
spaces
among
the
dunes
with
fresh
water
lagoons
of
up
to
100
metres
(330 ft)
in
length
and
3
metres
(10 ft)
in
depth,
and
together
comprising
as
much
as
41%
of
the
area
of
the
park.The
water
in
the
lagoons
is
prevented
from
draining
by
a
layer
of
impermeable
rock
located
beneath
the
sandy
surface.The
lagoons
typically
have
a
temperature
between
27.5 °C
(81.5 °F)
and
32 °C
(90 °F), pH of
between
4.9
and
6.2,
and
low
levels
of
dissolved
nutrients. When
the
dry
season
returns,
the
pools
quickly
evaporate,
losing
as
much
as
1
metre
(3 ft)
of
depth
per
month.
In
the
interior
of
the
park
are
located
two
oases
or restingas,
Queimada
do
Britos,
covering
an
area
of
1,100
hectares
(2,700
acres),
and
Baixa
Grande,
covering
an
area
of
850
hectares
(2,100
acres).
The
area
of
the
park
has
an
average
annual
temperature
of
between
26 °C
(79 °F)
and
28.5 °C
(83.3 °F)
and
an
annual
temperature
variation
of
about
1.1 °C
(2 °F).
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