Morphodynamic Environments of the Costa del Sol, Spain

Morphodynamic interactions of continental shelf, beach and dunes: the Cabopino dune system in southern Mediterranean Spain

“…Tidal range is microtidal (<-0.2 m average astronomical tidal range) and semi-diurnal and thus the main (contemporary) hydrodynamic influence on the coast is wave action. In terms of high-energy events, decadal records showed that storms are characterized by a low variability of wave approach; the majority are easterly events (range from 80°to 135°) with deep water wave heights greater than 5 m (Guisado-Pintado et al, 2013). Figure 1.…”

“…Their development and growth is limited to very recent sediment supply, which, when combined with limited forcing factors (waves and winds) are normally several orders of magnitude in size below those of north Atlantic beach and dune systems. However, Mediterranean dune fields exist that do not seem to correspond to this general pattern, possessing an Atlantic type physical scale and, more importantly, a distinctive link to nearshore derived sediments rather than riverine or lagoon sources (Guisado-Pintado et al, 2013).…”

Spatial distribution of storm wave energy dissipation for the assessment of beach morphodynamics

“…Coastal and marine morphologies vary from the Atlantic where a relatively flat and gentle sloping continental platform extends to the 100 m isobath (30-50 km width); whereas in the Mediterranean a steep continental shelf dominates the first 10 km seaward reaching 200 m in depth. Although the Andalusian coast is not influenced by big storms over a large area, it registers an intense storm activity (Guisado et al 2013). Storm events are slightly different among the two coastal exposures of Andalusia: along the Atlantic coast the wide continental platform allows swells to approach from distant low pressure centres with a southwesterly direction bringing storms that have a normal (orthogonal) approach to the SW exposed coastline.…”

“…Therefore the main hydrodynamic influence on the coast is wave action, characterised by long periods of calm (over 77% per year) in which the wave heights are less than 1 m and periods are short (e.g. 4 s) corresponding with short crested waves originated by local winds and limited fetch (Guisado et al 2013). The wave and wind approach is characterised by the alternation, almost 50%, of westerly and easterly winds.…”

“…However, the wave analysis showed that both systems received similar amounts of energy during storm events, though the occurrence in the Mediterranean Sea was more infrequent. In this sense, out of the 20 most energetic storm events that occurred during the past decade in Andalusia, 8 are localised in the Mediterranean Sea and 10 in the Atlantic (Guisado et al, 2013). Once isolated, storms were classified into 5 classes following the parameterisation proposed for the Storm Power Index (Dolan and Davis, 1992).…”