Sediment variations and littoral transport at La Victoria Beach, Cádiz, Spain

Abstract

The evolution of La Victoria Beach, located in the province of Cádiz (Spain), was evaluated from February to October 2004 by comparing the lithology and slope of two beach sections: the northern or Final Victoria (FV) section and the southern or Hotel Victoria (HV) section. Textural parameters and CaCO3 content of 24 sediment samples were obtained, and littoral transport was determined by fluorescent tracers. Topographic profiles were measured every 15 days using a total station during low spring tides. The sediment samples were analyzed by the method of moments and their textural parameters (mean, asymmetry, sorting, and kurtosis) calculated. The textural analysis showed that the sediment in section FV during the study period was moderately well classified and extremely leptokurtic, whereas section HV had two sediment groups: fine sands near the breaker zone and very fine pebbles at the berm; however, the winter period was evident in both sections. The CaCO3 content varied between 3% and 9%, indicating beach instability. The direction of the littoral transport, in agreement with the region’s behavior, was NW–SE, and showed a displacement of 130 m at 0.29 m s–1.