Critical beaches due to coastal erosion in the Caribbean south of Costa Rica, during the period 2005-2016

Abstract

Since 2010, the local press has been reporting an accelerated process of erosion on the sandy beaches of the Costa Rican Caribbean coast, it has even been documented within protected areas. To quantify this process and identify coastal erosion hotspots in the Caribbean south, a methodology was proposed for detecting and delineating the shoreline using aerial photographs and high-resolution satellite imagery to determine the rate of shoreline retreat, the employed photographs and images cover the period between 2005 and 2016. By such means it was possible to identify eleven erosion hotspots, as well as estimation of their retreat rates for the periods 2005-2010 and 2010-2016. The localities that have experienced the greatest erosion of their sandy beaches are Cahuita National Park, Westfalia and Bananito Beach.

The complexity of studying coasts: From forms and processes to management

“…If storm episodes prevail, boulder and mixed beaches experience micro and mesoscale morphological changes due to the slight movement of boulders and pebbles by energetic waves (Pérez-Alberti and Trenhaile, 2015;Nagle-McNaughton and Cox, 2020;Casamayor et al, 2022). Sandy beaches experience erosion through shoreline retreat, dune front escarpment, overwashing, inland migration of barrier islands, or even erosive planation and dismantling (Carter, 1990;Jiménez et al, 2007;Crowell et al, 2018;Barrantes-Castillo et al, 2020;Ruiz de Alegría-Arzaburu et al, 2022).…”