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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Mediterranean Coastal Lagoons

subject

description

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; and the southern sector in which Pleistocene formations occur on the surface or below the current sands. In the Gulf of Valencia there is practically a continuum of Holocene beach barrier-lagoon systems (post-Flandrian) that always start from a Quaternary alluvial structure. The structure and evolution of beach barrier-lagoon systems in this sector reveal the essential role of fluvial sediment supply to the system. The southern sector is formed by systems of a different nature, and in which the recent cumulative processes have played a much less important role, being so much more important the tectonic movements and Quaternary sea level changes. Human action is, in all cases, an essential factor in explaining the current landscapes and development of these ecosystems.