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Gravel Spit Stabilized by Unusual(?) High-Energy Wave Climate in Bay Side, Tierra Del Fuego

by Gustavo G. Bujalesky, CADIC-CONICET, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina,
Gustavo Gonz?lez-Bonorino, CADIC-CONICET, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Coastal Sediments

Abstract:

A 17 km-long sand and gravel spit grew from the Atlantic coast of Tierra del Fuego in the late Holocene, semi-enclosing a large and deep embayment. Strong westerly winds generate high-energy waves within the bay, competent to transport abundant gravel. The spit is transgressing into the bay at a rate of over 1 m/yr. Nourishment of the bay beach to compensate for the retreat of the Atlantic shoreline is accomplished mainly by longshore transport of sediment around the spit terminus, instead of by overwashing. This is a consequence of the wave climate in the bay. Were it not for the peculiar hydraulic setting the spit presumably would have breached.

Subject Headings: Gravels | Bays | Sediment transport | Littoral drift | Wave climates | Beaches | Beach protection and nourishment

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