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This work presents the results of a beach-monitoring program carried out in the Bay of Cadiz (SW Spain), which consists of urban, natural and nourished beaches. In the present study, 24 topographic profiles have been monthly monitored during the 1996–1998 period, in order to draw the morphodynamic behavior of this coast and the general characterization of short-term coastal trends. This way, total volumetric budgets have been calculated for each beach profile in order to group beaches in different erosive/accreting sectors. Studied beaches recorded both erosion and accretion: the greatest accretionary trends have been observed at Aguadulce, La Costilla and Rota beaches, with values ranging from 30 to 70 m3/m. The largest erosion episodes have been recorded in the southernmost end of Valdelagrana spit, with values over 50 m3/m, and in Rota and Vistahermosa, after nourishment works. Main erosion and accretion pathways have been related to the existence of natural and human structures, which blocked the longshore drift suggesting the existence of littoral cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work deals with the estimation of beach susceptibility to storminess in the Bay of Cadiz (SW Spain), and the concomitant environmental implications. For this purpose a comparison was made between the natural behaviour of beaches and the type and amount of coastal damage made by energetic waves in every beach type. Knowledge on the morphodynamic behaviour of beaches was obtained from a monthly topographic monitoring of 32 beach transepts normal to the coastline, performed during 30 consecutive months. Widely used morphodynamic parameters, like the Surf Similarity and the Surf Scaling parameters, were applied to the data, resulting in a general morphodynamic characterization of beaches, represented in a map of beach type distribution. Maximum coastal damage by storms was estimated by visual observations. Clear relationships between morphodynamic beach trends and amount of coastal damage have been obtained, and are presented in the form of a Beach Susceptibility Matrix. The matrix permits predictions of expected coastal damage associated with storms in other nearby beaches by means of a simple beach monitoring programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]