RT journal article
T1 The Origin of Sand and Its Colour on the South-Eastern Coast of Spain: Implications for Erosion Management
A1 Asensio-Montesinos, Francisco
A1 Pranzini, Enzo
A1 Martínez-Martínez, Javier
A1 Cinelli, Irene
A1 Anfuso Melfi, Giorgio
A1 Corbí, Hugo
A2 Ciencias de la Tierra
K1 Alicante
K1 beach nourishment
K1 CIEL*a*b*
K1 coastal management
K1 Costa Blanca
K1 mineralogical characterization
K1 sediment colour
K1 tourism
K1 western Mediterranean
AB Sand colour can give important information about mineral composition and, consequently, sediment source areas and input systems. Beach appearance, which is mostly linked to sand colour, has a relevant economic function in tourist areas. In this paper, the colour of 66 sand samples, collected along both natural and nourished beaches in the western Mediterranean coast of Spain, were assessed in CIEL*a*b* 1976 colour space. The obtained results showed relevant differences between natural and artificially nourished beaches. The colour of many nourished beaches generally differs from the native one because the origin of the injected sand is different. The native sand colour coordinates' range is: L* (40.16-63.71); a* (-1.47-6.40); b* (7.48-18.06). On the contrary, for nourished beaches' the colour range is: L* (47.66-70.75); a*(0.72-5.16); b* (5.82-18.82). Impacts of beach nourishment on the native sand colour were studied at San Juan beach, the most popular one along the study area. Nourishment works were performed after severe erosion, usually linked to anthropic activities/structures and storm events, but also to increase beach width and hence benefit tourism
PB MDPI
SN 2073-4441
YR 2020
FD 2020-02
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/22768
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/22768
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 14-nov-2026