Analysis of shoreline change between inlets along the coast of Chennai, India

Abstract

Chennai is a major metropolitan city along the southeast coast of India and is popular for its world’s second longest sandy beach called as Marina beach the shoreline of which has been gradually advancing towards the Bay of Bengal over a century. The advance of the shoreline is due to the construction of breakwaters for the formation of the harbor of Chennai port, one of the 12 major ports of India. The study area is the stretch of the shoreline between two zones, viz., Zone I: Cooum (13° 4′ N and 80° 17′ 20″ E) and Zone II: Adyar (13° 0′ 49″ N and 80° 16′ 38″ E). The rate of shoreline change over the period 2000 to 2019 is analysed through statistical parameters using geographical information system and DSAS (digital shoreline analysis system) in the form of erosion and accretion. The LRR results elucidate that the Chennai coast has experienced an extremely dynamic feature with an average erosion rate of −1.67 m/year. The accretion due to the littoral drift with an average rate of +1.31 m/year is driven by the net alongshore current towards the north of the Adyar River.