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Ocean Beaches of Rio Grande do Sul

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Brazilian Beach Systems

Part of the book series: Coastal Research Library ((COASTALRL,volume 17))

Abstract

Beaches along the Rio Grande do Sul (RS) coast are fully exposed with the exception of the extreme northern end where a rocky headland composed of sandstone, basalt and volcano-clastic sequences provide a small degree of protection to coastal dynamics. The beaches generally consist of fine quartz sand with a low gradient swash zone usually containing low-relief beach cusps. Beaches range between intermediate and dissipative, with beach state controlled in part by grain-size variations through the contribution of shell fragments, gravel and coarse quartz sand. This wave-dominated coast is episodically exposed to storm waves, which favors the formation and maintenance of two to three shore parallel sand bars. Most of the beaches possess distinct hazard to bathers associated to their beach state and hazard rating. The longshore bar and trough (LBT) and rhythmic bar and beach (RBB) states are very common and the troughs are usually deeper than the height of the bathers. The combination of higher beach population during summer seasons and rip-dominated intermediate beaches result in the most hazardous beaches along the northern littoral and in the extreme south. Other beach hazards are related to the presence of washouts and flooding, as well as, to episodic deposition of fluid mud at the surfzone and beach as a result of anthropogenic influence. Approximately 80 % of the coastline is undeveloped and the main impacts are associated to car traffic and litter represented by solid waste and plastic beads. Foredunes along the littoral are affected by changes in coastal orientation in relation to the prevailing northeast winds and beach morphodynamics and range from well-developed to non-existent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Oceanografia Geológica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil

    Lauro Júlio Calliari

  2. Centro de Estudos de Geologia Costeira e Oceânica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Elírio Ernestino Toldo Jr.

Authors
  1. Lauro Júlio Calliari
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  2. Elírio Ernestino Toldo Jr.
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Correspondence to Lauro Júlio Calliari .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Andrew D. Short

  2. Departamento de Geociências, Laboratório de Oceanografia Costeira, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil

    Antonio Henrique da F. Klein

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Calliari, L.J., Toldo, E.E. (2016). Ocean Beaches of Rio Grande do Sul. In: Short, A., Klein, A. (eds) Brazilian Beach Systems. Coastal Research Library, vol 17. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30394-9_18

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