Sensitivity assessment of the deltaic coast of Medjerda based on fine-grained sediment dynamics, Gulf of Tunis, Western Mediterranean

Amrouni, Oula; Sánchez, Alberto; Khélifi, Nabil; Benmoussa, Thouraya; Chiarella, Domenico; Mahé, Gil; Abdeljaouad, Saâdi; McLaren, Patrick

doi:10.1007/s11852-019-00687-x

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Rosskopf et al [44] pointed out that the long-term shoreline retreat of the Molise coast (Italy) was primarily related to channel adjustments of the Biferno and Trigno rivers, trapping most of the rivers' solid load, affecting the sediment budget of the river mouth areas and adjacent beaches. The reduction in sediment discharge caused by the dams was also well studied by Amrouni et al [13], who considered the implementation of artificial reservoirs as the main cause of the negative sediment budget leading to a shortage of sand sediment on the Medjerda delta (Tunisia) and the dominant erosion of the coastline. The reduced flux of sediment reaching the world's coasts because of retention within reservoirs is also well documented by Syvitski et al [45], who estimated that over 100 billion metric tons of sediment are sequestered in reservoirs constructed largely within the past 50 years.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Shoreline Evolution and Environmental Changes at the NW Area of the Gulf of Gela (Sicily, Italy)

Borzì

Anfuso

Manno

et al. 2021

Land

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Coastal areas are among the most biologically productive, dynamic and valued ecosystems on Earth. They are subject to changes that greatly vary in scale, time and duration and to additional pressures resulting from anthropogenic activities. The aim of this work was to investigate the shoreline evolution and the main environmental changes of the coastal stretch between the towns of Licata and Gela (in the Gulf of Gela, Sicily, Italy). The methodology used in this work included the analysis of: (i) shoreline changes over the long- and medium-term periods (1955–2019 and 1989–2019, respectively), (ii) dune system fragmentation and (iii) the impact of coastal structures (harbours and breakwaters) on coastal evolution. The shoreline change analysis mainly showed a negative trend both over the long- and medium-term periods, with a maximum retreat of 3.87 m/year detected over the medium-term period down-drift of the Licata harbour. However, a few kilometres eastward from the harbour, significant accretion was registered where a set of breakwaters was emplaced. The Shoreline Change Envelope (SCE) showed that the main depositional phenomena occurred during the decade between 1955 and 1966, whereas progressive and constant erosion was observed between 1966 and 1989 in response to the increasing coastal armouring.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Shoreline Evolution and Environmental Changes at the NW Area of the Gulf of Gela (Sicily, Italy)

Borzì

Anfuso

Manno

et al. 2021

Land

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“…We de ne the observed shoreline retreat in semi-arid urban coasts as the sum of shoreline retreat due to (1) coastal erosion resulting from sediment imbalance [32], and (2) coastal erosion resulting from sealevel rise caused by direct submersion [8, 33,34], as described in the Supplementary Data, Section 2. We describe herein the results associated with measuring each of the above components of total shoreline retreat, and their dependency on land coverage, and nally forecast the total observed shoreline retreat up to 2100 at both sites along with its implications on current beach nourishment costs.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deconvolving The Effects of Coastal Erosion and Sea-Level Rise in Assessing Shoreline Retreat Along Semi-Arid Urban Coasts

Amrouni

Heggy

Hzami

2022

Preprint

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The alarming vulnerability of low-lying sandy beaches to the acceleration of global sea level rise has been confirmed in the recent IPCC AR6 report. The situation is worsened by increasing coastal erosion, resulting in additional shoreline retreat of sandy beaches along several semi-arid urban coastal areas around the globe. The additional shoreline retreats from erosion are indicative of the rising imbalance in coastal sedimentary processes, which are a direct consequence of changes in precipitation patterns, urban growth, and change in land use. To quantify the magnitude and timescale of both coastal erosion and sea-level rise (SLR) in generating shoreline retreat of sandy beaches in semi-arid urban areas, we combine photogrammetric and statistical methods to measure and forecast the decadal evolution of these coastlines using two well-characterized sites that are hypothesized herein to be globally representative of these types of coasts undergoing rapid urban growth. We use multi-decadal shoreline positioning and land use classification surveys of the Southern California (SC, USA) and the Hammamet-North (HAM, Tunisia) beaches from aerial and orbital photogrammetric images, combined with the Digital Shoreline Analysis System, for the period from 1985 to 2018. Our results suggest that the current average shoreline retreat rates of sandy beaches range from -0.75 to -1.24 m/yr in SC and from -0.21 to -4.49 m/yr in HAM under similar aridity, land coverage and precipitation patterns. The observed decadal changes in shoreline positions along these semi-arid urban coastal areas are found to be accentuated by anthropogenic drivers associated with extensive urbanization, causing sediment imbalance at the coastline, adding up to the effect of the accelerating SLR. We assess that ~81% and 57% of the observed shoreline retreat was due to SLR, and 19% to 43% due to coastal erosion from urban growth along SC and HAM beaches, respectively. Using these measured rates, we establish a semi-empirical numerical model that combines urban growth and the observed shoreline retreat rate to forecast retreat rates through 2100 for both of our study areas, inferred herein to be representative of other global semi-arid urban coasts. Our model suggests that future average total shoreline retreat rates, accounting for both urban growth and SLR, range from -2 to -4 m/yr for SC and HAM sandy beaches, respectively, through 2100. The above suggests that if no mitigation is made, by 2100 the cumulative shoreline retreat in these urban areas could significantly exceed the Global Scale Assessment Model’s [46] cumulative projected average retreat of -30 m, confirming the alarming vulnerability of the semi-arid coastal urban areas that would need intensive and costly beach nourishment to control increasing shoreline erosion.

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“…The available historical data of climate parameters (Rainfall and Temperature) for the years from 1970 to 2020 were collected from four meteorological stations: Haditha (from 1970 to 2020); Ramadi (from 1982 to 2018); Falluja (from 1982 to 2018) and Al-Hindiya (from 1980 to 2018) respectively [26]. The climatic parameters over time have shown a decrease in precipitation rates and apparent increases in Temperature .…”

Section: Climate Parameter Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Variance Discharge on the Dissolved Salts Concentration in the Euphrates River upper reach, Iraq

Ali

Dabbas²

2022

eijs

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The Euphrates River Basin in Iraq suffers from climate changes represented by the scarcity of precipitation and the increase in temperatures, which is directly reflected in the discharge rates and the increase in total dissolved solids, and consequently, the increase in the dissolved loads in the river. Four measurement stations (Haditha, Ramadi, Fallujah, and Al-Hindiya) in the upper reach of the Euphrates River were investigated. Available data were analyzed from 1970 to 2020 related to precipitation (mm) and temperatures (°C). The results showed a clear decrease in precipitation rates over the years, while a clear increase in air temperature rates was observed. The discharge rates decreased temporally and spatially downstream as follows: 502, 383.7, 382.1, and 211.8 m³/s in Haditha, Ramadi, Fallujah, and Al-Hindiya, respectively. The average total dissolved solids (ppm) from 2005 to 2020 shows a gradual increase downstream, 698.8, 764.8, 833, and 922.3 ppm. The dissolution load classification curves for 2005 to 2020 show an increase in the downstream dissolved loads of 0.781, 0.786, 0.927, and 0.944 million tons/month in Haditha, Ramadi, Fallujah, and Al-Hindiya, respectively. It reflects the increase in the dissolution process of basin materials cumulatively downstream. It is recommended that careful management of the transmission of pollutants of agricultural and anthropogenic activities outputs into the river without any treatments for the downstream reaches will be required.

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Sensitivity assessment of the deltaic coast of Medjerda based on fine-grained sediment dynamics, Gulf of Tunis, Western Mediterranean

Cited by 17 publications

References 49 publications

Shoreline Evolution and Environmental Changes at the NW Area of the Gulf of Gela (Sicily, Italy)

Shoreline Evolution and Environmental Changes at the NW Area of the Gulf of Gela (Sicily, Italy)

Deconvolving The Effects of Coastal Erosion and Sea-Level Rise in Assessing Shoreline Retreat Along Semi-Arid Urban Coasts

The Effect of Variance Discharge on the Dissolved Salts Concentration in the Euphrates River upper reach, Iraq

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