Mg. Villagrán-Valenzuela, Mauricio

Coastal evolution is an important research topic worldwide and has become increasingly relevant due to growing anthropogenic pressure on the coast and a climate change scenario (Masselink et al., 2016). The Gulf of Arauco covers an area of roughly 40,000 km2 and has a sandy-rocky coastline located in a very seismic environment. The area has suffered several major earthquakes during the last century (Valdivia 1960, Maule 2010) and seismic displacement has widely affected the coastline (Béjar-Pizarro et al., 2010). Despite these findings, the morphological evolution of sandy coastlines is mainly caused by wave-driven littoral processes. In this paper, using numerical modeling (Delft3D), we aim to characterize the longshore sediment transport (LST) direction at several spots (7 beaches) spread along the coastline of the Gulf of Arauco. Wave patterns were identified at each study site, revealing the importance of Santa Maria Island, located at the entrance to the gulf, despite the approach direction of deep water waves. The island acts as a moderator of wave patterns, softening the highly energetic swell that comes from the Antarctic Ocean and sorting the wave propagation inside the gulf. Moreover, LST patterns were characterized at each site for dominant wave conditions (SW swell and NW winter storms) and it was possible to explain how each condition has a different response at each spot, even under similar co-seismic displacements. Adaptation capabilities differ from site to site, suggesting a dynamic equilibrium of beaches in the area.

The understanding of morphological processes controlling the evolution of sand spit reformation after a tsunami impact is a challenging and interesting topic, especially in highly energetic and micro tidal environments. A field campaign performed during December 2012 at the Mataquito River mouth in Chile, allowed us to simultaneously monitor topo-bathymetry evolution, wave climate, tidal range, swash zone dynamics and upper beach face evolution over a portion of its sand spit. A video system was set up for a continuous and long-term monitoring of the evolution of the river mouth and sand spit. Primarily, in this work we focus on the application of a video-derived shoreline detection method to assess shoreline evolution and beach cusps migration at hourly scales. We test the method performance on short-term episodic migration of beach cusps recorded during the campaign. Beach face variations at a daily scale were observed, which can be attributed to the migration of beach cusps in the alongshore direction, and linked to wave forcing and alongshore sediment transport.

Detailed video images and ADCP measurements were used to describe the processes of suspended sediment transport by the Mataquito River into the Pacific Ocean. It is found that, in the absence of fluvial flood discharges, suspended sediment transport to the sea only takes place during low tide periods and it is characterized by pulses of different frequencies that in turn are related to the spatial velocity distribution at the river inlet. It was observed that at low tide the highest velocities are near the mouth of the river, presenting an heterogeneous spatial distribution. In this high speed zone, we hypothesized the shear stresses are big enough to re-suspend fine sediment that is transported into the ocean by the main river current. A simple conceptual explanation based on these findings is presented, seeking to explain the observed dynamic equilibrium of the Mataquito River inlet after the significant alterations produced by the 2010 M8.8 earthquake and tsunami.

The capability to predict the long term evolution of coastal state parameters can be severely affected by neglecting major geomorphic forcings. Among these, the effect of tsunamis as been largely neglected along the Chilean coast. In this contribution, we present a qualitative and descriptive assessment of the sudden change induced by the tsunami on a coastal location in Central Chile, and the consequent recovery process. The latter is driven mostly by strong wave forcing, with a very fast recovery capactity. The necessity and consequences of including tsunamis in long term evaluations fo coastal morphology are briefly discussed.