Development of an integrated coastal management tool for rocky coasts at the algarve study site
type: CreativeWork
description: Coastal erosion has contributed throughout geological time to shape world coastal landscapes leading to the coastline that we know today. This natural phenomenon, allied with soil erosion in water catchments, is the source of sediment for costal systems such as beaches and marshes. These systems have several purposes and functions serving as wave energy absorbents, habitats and nesting grounds for fauna and flora, maintaining also a barrier and protection between the fresh and saltwater. Coastal systems have been proven to be very desirable places for humans that led to increasing migration of the human population towards them due to the resources that could be obtained from these areas, from fishing to industry. In Europe, the settlement of a large population on these areas, heavy exploration and the touristic high demand for coastal areas increased interference and turned erosion into a serious problem, with ever growing negative consequences, especially along the French, Spanish, Portuguese coasts and the southern coast of the United Kingdom. Although most of the population realizes that the coastal erosion is a problem that needs to be addressed, their focus is mainly on short-term based observations of a rapid erosion. Therefore, other options must be considered and made known to the public, governmental and scientific communities. In order to study and create solutions for the coastal erosion and management plans adjusted to the processes of the rocky coastlines, the case study site was the southernmost rocky coast of the Algarve region. The Algarve rocky coast displays a very crenulated physiography mainly where the intensively karstified Lagos-Portimão Formation is exposed (between Porto de Mós and Olhos de Água). Beaches occur at the cliffs’ foot separated by headlands often connected to shore platforms forming littoral cells. Currently, the survival of these beaches depends almost exclusively on the longshore drift due to the lack of sediment sources from …
abstract: Coastal erosion has contributed throughout geological time to shape world coastal landscapes leading to the coastline that we know today. This natural phenomenon, allied with soil erosion in water catchments, is the source of sediment for costal systems such as beaches and marshes. These systems have several purposes and functions serving as wave energy absorbents, habitats and nesting grounds for fauna and flora, maintaining also a barrier and protection between the fresh and saltwater. Coastal systems have been proven to be very desirable places for humans that led to increasing migration of the human population towards them due to the resources that could be obtained from these areas, from fishing to industry. In Europe, the settlement of a large population on these areas, heavy exploration and the touristic high demand for coastal areas increased interference and turned erosion into a serious problem, with ever growing negative consequences, especially along the French, Spanish, Portuguese coasts and the southern coast of the United Kingdom. Although most of the population realizes that the coastal erosion is a problem that needs to be addressed, their focus is mainly on short-term based observations of a rapid erosion. Therefore, other options must be considered and made known to the public, governmental and scientific communities. In order to study and create solutions for the coastal erosion and management plans adjusted to the processes of the rocky coastlines, the case study site was the southernmost rocky coast of the Algarve region. The Algarve rocky coast displays a very crenulated physiography mainly where the intensively karstified Lagos-Portimão Formation is exposed (between Porto de Mós and Olhos de Água). Beaches occur at the cliffs’ foot separated by headlands often connected to shore platforms forming littoral cells. Currently, the survival of these beaches depends almost exclusively on the longshore drift due to the lack of sediment sources from …
author: Oliveira Fernandes, Sónia Alexandra Jenkins
language: eng
keywords: Integrated coastal management, coastal erosion, Algarve
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
date published: 2020
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:29:24Z
provider: Universidad de Cadiz
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Universidad de Cadiz

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/10498/29109