0000000000184255
AUTHOR
Eulalia Sanjaume
Beaches in Valencian Coast
The main factors that determined the Valencian beaches characteristics are the configuration of relief structures; fluvial sediment supply; low tidal range; the predominance of low energy waves; scarcity of big storms; longshore littoral drift; and human action. There is a significant prevalence of sandy beaches. Nevertheless, both at the northern part of the Gulf of Valencia and in the structural segment, between the Cape Sant Antoni and Alicante city, pebble and gravel beaches are predominant. Most of the Valencian beaches have experienced significant morphological changes during the last decades due to the human interventions -voluntary or involuntary- in the coastal system. The implemen…
Beach ridges from the Varanger Peninsula (Arctic Norwegian coast): Characteristics and significance
The most common coastal sedimentary forms on the arctic coast of the Varanger Peninsula are raised beach ridge plains. The majority of the ridges consist of coarse material, but there are also sandy beach ridge areas close to the river mouths of some of the major rivers. Some bays having the same isostatic rebound and dynamic conditions have been studied to test if the number of beach ridges in each locality is significant to prove climatic changes, storminess, and rates of sediment accumulation, or if the number of beach ridges in each bay is only dependent on their intrinsic characteristics and self organization. Because the number of ridges varies not only from bay to bay, but even withi…
Littoral Dunes on Valencia Coast
The dunes development needs an excess of sediment supply, wind speed able to transport sand to backshore and low atmospheric humidity. Foredunes, dunes fields and Pleistocene fossil dunes are the most characteristics features of the Valencian coast. Fossil dunes are abundant at the southern part. They are the main supply for the Holocene dunes and formed l’Altet field that survived thanks to be just in front of the L’Altet Airport. The foredunes have been mainly destroyed by human action and only few remains still are active. Guardamar and El Saler dune fields had a quite different evolution. Guardamar evolved covering previous fossil dunes and was fixed with pine trees to avoid the sand pr…
Mediterranean Coastal Lagoons
On the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula—between the Ebro Delta and Cape Palos—the conditions during the Pleistocene, and especially after the Flandrian transgression, favoured the development of beach barrier systems and lagoons along large segments of the coast. The very small tidal range made connections between the sea and lagoons difficult, and this favoured sedimentation processes, which was often accelerated by human activity. Three very different sectors have been differentiated: the Gulf of Valencia, where the largest number of lagoons is found; the cliffed Betic structural sector between Cape Sant Antoni and Cape de les Hortes, in which there are just a few very small lagoons…