Geomorphological and stratigraphic analysis applied to coastal management

Abstract

Many of the current conflicts related to inadequate planning of coastal land use are due to the lack of public knowledge about coastal dynamics. With the objective of supporting Integrated Coastal Management actions and increasing public knowledge, this study presents results obtained from the application of Remote Sensing and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to demonstrate the medium and long term behavior of the Cigana Beach barrier evolution in southern Brazil. The stratigraphic record enables definition of the Holocene retrogradational stacking pattern of the coastal barrier at the study area. On a more recent scale, the average of shoreline changes obtained from the aerial photos of 1938 and 1978 shows a historical erosion trend. The proposed use of the mean high tide line in 1831 to legally designate Federal Lands in coastal areas does not consider coastal dynamics and generates an overlap of public jurisdictions. Due to lack of information on a local scale, and the consequent missing application of coastal management tools for decision-making to resolve land use conflicts, incorporation of the knowledge generated in this work into municipal management instruments is suggested.