RT journal article
T1 Beaches’ Expulsion from Paradise: From a Natural to an Artificial Littoral in Tuscany (Italy)
A1 Pranzini, Enzo
A1 Cinelli, Irene
A1 Anfuso Melfi, Giorgio
A2 Ciencias de la Tierra
K1 coastal anthropization
K1 coastal anthropization
K1 beach tourism
K1 coastal evolution
K1 deltas
K1 historical cartography
K1 human impact
K1 shore protection
AB This study investigated the shoreline evolution of the Tuscany coast (Italy) from 1878–1883to 2019. The 205 km sandy coastline, divided into 821 sectors, each one 250 m long, was analyzedto understand how human activities have altered this once-pristine coast. Sub-period analyseshighlighted the impacts, both positive and negative, of various shore-protection projects. Initially,regional beaches were undeveloped and accreting, except for a few river deltas where alternatingphases of erosion and accretion were observed. Coastal erosion began at deltas’ areas due to thereduction in sediment inputs and, at other areas, enhanced by the development of human settlementsand tourism activities. This triggered the construction of protection structures that shifted erosionprocesses downdrift, a process that induced the downdrift extension of the structures (according to the“domino” effect), determining the transformation of a completely natural and resilient environmentinto a largely rigid one. Beach nourishment projects, mostly using inland quarries, added about1 million cubic meters of sediment from the 1980s to 2019. Currently, 57.8% of beaches are larger thanin the 1880s, 9.4% did not change and 32.8% are narrower. Overall, the Tuscan coast gained 6.5 km2of beach surface with an average shoreline advancement of 32 m. Recent trends (2005–2019) showthat 37.7% of the coast is eroding, 21.1% is stable, and 41.2% is accreting, with a total surface areaincrease of about 200,000 m2. The beach surface area is still increasing despite the existing reducedsediment input due to the limited sediment loss resulting from the presence of morphological cellsenclosed by very prominent headlands and the absence of submarine canyons that would otherwisedirect sediments to the continental shelf.
PB MDPI
SN 2673-964X
YR 2024
FD 2024-11-22
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/38043
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/38043
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 10-may-2026