MORPHODYNAMICS OF A CARIBBEAN BEACH FRINGED BY A CORAL REEF

Proceedings of the International Conference on Coastal Engineering

Mariana González-Leija²  Ismael Mariño-Tapia²  Rodolfo Silva-Casarín³  Cecilia Enriquez³  Amaia Ruiz de Alegria-Arzaburu¹ 

[1] Universidad Autonoma de Baja California;Unidad Mérida del Instituto Politécnico Nacional;Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

关键词: beach morphodynamics;    fringing coral reef;    wave energy dissipation;   

DOI  :  10.9753/icce.v33.sediment.119

学科分类：建筑学

来源: Coastal Engineering Research Council

【 摘 要 】

The morphological response of two adjacent beaches, on the Mexican Caribbean coast, exposed to the same offshore wave climate is compared, where one of the beaches is fringed by a coral reef and the other is not. Detailed topographic and bathymetric measurements were collected from 2007 to 2011using a differential GPS and double-frequency echo-sounder. Offshore waves were continuously measured by the NOAA 42056 directional buoy, and nearshore waves were measured from May to September 2007 using an acoustic wave and current profiler to validate the use of offshore waves in the analysis of beach morphodynamics. Investigations showed that the beach with the fringing coral reef was the more stable under the same offshore energetic wave conditions of different directions. The implications of the fringing reef on the local hydrodynamics and energy dissipation were evaluated with the SWAN third-generation spectral wave model. The model was first validated with wave measurements collected at intermediate (forereef) and shallow waters (reef lagoon) with Aquadop profilers. Numerical results indicate that during shore-normal energetic conditions, the fringing reef is capable of reducing the incoming wave energy by up to 65%.

【 授权许可】

Unknown