Beaches of the amazon coast: Amapá and west pará

Abstract

The Amazon river flows into the funnel-shaped Amazon Gulf with its shoreline stretching for hundreds of kilometers in either direction. The river delivers massive amounts of mud and some sand to the coast, which is dominated by the river flow, macro to mega-tides, general low easterly waves and the strong Brazilian Current. While most of the coast consists of wide intertidal mud flats and muddy riverbanks, there are approximately 500 sandy beaches located in five Amazon sub-provinces. These are the northern Amapá coast with some longer beaches; the Amazon river Amapá and Pará shores with beaches located on the outer interdistributary islands and some small beaches along river banks; and the northern coast of Pará’s Marajó island of which more than half is tide-dominated sandy beaches.