Morphodynamics of an embayed beach in majorca island

Abstract

Cala Millor Beach is located in Mallorca Island and is a small sandy beach, embedded in a rocky bay. It remained generally in a state of equilibrium but, in the 60s, the urbanistic area began to develop towards the beach, interfering with the natural sediment transport of the bay. The seabed is covered by native vegetation known as Posidonia Oceanica, playing an important role in the morphodynamic system. This vegetation is responsible for the lamination of the waves through energy dissipation. To characterize the local dynamics, the SMC program (System of Coastal Modelling) is employed to study sediment transport trends and to evaluate morphological evolutions in the short term. The results seem to support the observed problem, resulting from an imbalance of sediment transport due to the drift from north to south. Moreover, the results support the idea that the morphological variations can be significantly attenuated in the presence of Posidonia Oceanica. This is of great importance for coastal management since the influence of the vegetation can be assessed, improving our knowledge on the coastal morphology and enabling to identify ways to protect the beach.