Wave Attenuation and Shoreline Protection by a Fringing Reef System

While knowledge on coastal dynamics is essential to guarantee well-informed decision making, information is still scarce, particularly regarding areas with the presence of coral reefs and other complex ecosystems. The objective of the present study was to contribute towards the understanding of wave...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Elliff, Carla I., Silva, Iracema R., Cánovas, Verónica, González, Mauricio
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:Brasil
Recursos:Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)
Repositorio:Anuário do Instituto de Geociências (Online)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:www.revistas.ufrj.br:article/29972
Acesso em linha:https://revistas.ufrj.br/index.php/aigeo/article/view/29972
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Wave climate; Coral reefs; Wave attenuation; SMC-Brasil
Descrição
Resumo:While knowledge on coastal dynamics is essential to guarantee well-informed decision making, information is still scarce, particularly regarding areas with the presence of coral reefs and other complex ecosystems. The objective of the present study was to contribute towards the understanding of wave attenuation and shoreline protection at different tide moments by a fringing reef system located in a Southwestern Atlantic archipelago. The predominant directions of offshore waves adjacent to the archipelago were ESE, SE, E and SSE. Coral reefs demonstrated high efficiency in wave height attenuation even under higher energy conditions during high tides. Erosion hot-spots along the archipelago were associated with rip currents, which were greatly reduced or absent during low tides. Coral reef conservation is essential to maintain shoreline protection and information on reef geomorphology should be included in reef status protocols to help advance this field of knowledge.