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Storm-induced readjustment of an embayed beach after modification by protection works

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Abstract

This paper examines storm-induced morphological and hydrodynamic changes after a submerged and a detached breakwater were constructed at La Barceloneta beach (Barcelona, NW Mediterranean) in 2006–2007. The shoreline configurations before and after beach nourishment and the construction of the protective structures were compared using a video dataset comprising 29 storm events spanning the pre- (2001 to 2005, n = 17) and the post-breakwater situation (2006 to 2011, n = 12), and hydrodynamic modelling based on the SMC coastal modelling system. As a result of the protection works, La Barceloneta was subdivided into two beaches separated by an artificial salient. The analysis of shoreline response to storms has been improved by using the shoreline hyperbolic tangent fit to represent the beach planform. Comparing the pre- and post-breakwater situations on the basis of these shoreline fits facilitated the identification of beach rotation processes because interference by smaller-scale morphological features was eliminated (e.g. the formation, changes in shape or migration of mega-cusps). In the current post-breakwater situation, there is evidence for a change in the behaviour of the north-eastern beach triggered by the submerged breakwater built in 2007. Furthermore, a counter-clockwise beach rotation has occurred at the north-eastern beach, whereas the south-western beach has experienced a clockwise beach rotation. This morphodynamic behaviour is caused by a new, complex wave-induced circulation system comprising two dominant alongshore currents flowing in opposite directions. In contrast to the pre-breakwater situation, the alongshore component of the radiation stress does not accomplish beach rotation in the post-breakwater situation.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation within the IMNOBE project (CTM2009-11892). A.S.-G. is supported by a JAE-predoc from the CSIC cofounded by the European Social Found, and E.O. by a postdoc within the scientific cooperation programme between the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The images used are copyright of the Coastal Ocean Observatory (http://coo.icm.csic.es). We are grateful to Òscar Chic, Sara Soto and Oriol Mulet for providing technical support. We also wish to thank the Meteorological and Oceanographic Instrument Network (XIOM) for providing the wave data of the Llobregat buoy, the Spanish Port Authority for the WANA model dataset and the Institute of Cartography of Catalonia (ICC) for the orthophotos used in the map of the study area. Finally, we are grateful to Environmental Hydraulics Institute “IH Cantabria”, Cantabria University for providing us with the SMC and especially to R. Medina and V. Cánovas for their advice on the modelling. Suggestions provided by A.H.F. Klein, two anonymous reviewers, and the editors B.W. Flemming and M.T. Delafontaine greatly improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM-CSIC), Passeig Maritim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003, Barcelona, Spain

    Amanda Sancho-García, Jorge Guillén & Elena Ojeda

  2. Laboratorio de Ingeniería y Procesos Costeros, Instituto de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto de Abrigo s/n, 92718, Sisal, Mexico

    Elena Ojeda

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  1. Amanda Sancho-García
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  2. Jorge Guillén
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  3. Elena Ojeda
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Correspondence to Amanda Sancho-García.

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Responsible guest editor: I. Rodríguez-Santalla

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Sancho-García, A., Guillén, J. & Ojeda, E. Storm-induced readjustment of an embayed beach after modification by protection works. Geo-Mar Lett 33, 159–172 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-012-0319-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-012-0319-6

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