RT journal article
T1 Effects of stone-made wind shelter structures over an arid nebkha foredune
A1 Sanromualdo-Collado, A.
A1 García-Romero, L.
A1 Viera-Pérez, Manuel
A1 Delgado Fernández, Irene
A1 Hernández-Calvento, L.
A2 Ciencias de la Tierra
K1 Stone-stacking
K1 Coastal aeolian sedimentary system
K1 Shadow dune
K1 Human impacts
K1 Beach-dune management
AB Beach users often use a range of strategies to shelter from the wind and blown sand. This involves building structuresmade of stacking stones. Different from other portable wind blockers, stone-made wind shelters can remain in the landscape for a long time. The process of stone removal from their original place and stone-stacking at another location haswell-known effects on rock-dwelling wildlife. Less known are the impacts of stone wind shelters on biogeomorphologicalprocesses of beach-dune systems, especially those in arid coastlines, where foredunes formed by nebkhas are naturallydiscontinuous. This is the case of Playa del Inglés beach (Gran Canaria, Spain), the main sediment input to theMaspalomas dunefield, where the presence of stone wind shelters (goros) made by users has increased in recent decadesfollowing an increase of visitors.This research aims to investigate the effects of stone wind shelters on the dynamics of an arid beach-dune system atvarious spatiotemporal scales. The methodology includes the use of aerial photography to study the appearance andevolution of stone shelters in Playa del Inglés and some of their long-term effects on the foredune. Field data wasalso collected to investigate the effects that stone shelters have over a representative foredune nebkha in detail, bymonitoring the changes (topography, airflow, and vegetation) of an individual landform as we progressively removepebbles from a previously built stone shelter.Results show that stone stacking has an impact on airflow and sediment transport dynamics around landforms, limitingsediment accumulation inside nebkhas and therefore arid foredune growth. Stone stacking also constrict vegetationgrowth and its ability to retain sediment. The impacts of these artificial structures can be reverted following their removal but that the process of dismantling stones must be carefully planned. We elaborate some recommendations hereto do it avoid damaging foredune vegetation
PB Elsevier
SN 1879-1026
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/31425
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/31425
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 10-may-2026