One of the unique places in Europe in both environmental and cultural terms is the Curonian Spit -a massive sandy barrier separating the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. Straddling both the Lithuanian and the Russian parts, the spit is included into the UNESCO list of cultural heritage monuments. From the geological point of view, it is still an "alive" environment dominated by aeolian deposits. With the help of modern geophysical and geochronological techniques (ground-penetrating radar [GPR] surveys, LIDAR data, and radiocarbon [ 14 C] dating), detailed investigations of paleosols were carried out in the Dead (Grey) Dunes massif located between Juodkrante and Pervalka settlements on the Lithuanian half of the Curonian Spit. Several soil-forming generations (phases) during 5800-4500, 3900-3100, 2600-2400, and from 1900 calendar years BP until the present have been distinguished. GPR surveys enabled a series of paleogeographic reconstructions of the massif for different time intervals of its evolutionary history.

Reefs and a barrier reef have been newly identified and mapped by three-dimensional (3D) seismic survey in Lithuania. Seismic data analysis has allowed the size and geometry of these reefs to be determined. The largest reefs occur at Pavasaris and South Bliudziai. They have a similar shape and are about 1.5 km long and 1 km wide. A circle-shaped smaller patch reef at North Bliudziai is 1 km in diameter. The overall heights of the studied structures do not exceed 30-40 m. The reefs consist of coarse-grained bioclastic stromatoporoid limestone. A barrier reef rising structurally from SW to NE was established in the west of the mapped area. The stratigraphic position (early Minija Regional Stage) and lateral distribution of the barrier reef suggest it started to form earlier than the group of patch reefs. The development of patch reefs was related to the transgression of the Silurian Baltic basin.

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