1 A brief assessment of the situation and possible outcomes of Fajã do Calhau (S. Miguel – Azores)

The Azores archipelago is located in the North Atlantic on a volcanic and seismic active area and is formed by nine islands scattered over 600 km. Supratidal talus-platforms, locally called “fajãs”, resulting from landslides are relatively common coastal features in the archipelago, occurring in the cliffed coasts of the Azorean islands. On S. Miguel Island several of these coastal forms can be seen,with one of the largest being the focus of this research; namely Fajã do Calhau. This fajã is located at the southern coast on the far eastern end of the island. This flat coastal fringe has approximately 0.22 km2 and circa 1300 m long and a maximum width of 260 m. In the past offered potential for human settling, in spit of the hazards arising form storms; on our days, for other reasons it’s a very claim area. Considering the wave height in the North Atlantic Ocean seems to be increasing, that storminess has slightly increased for the Azorean archipelago over the last 150 years; and that global scenarios of climate changes indicate further exacerbation of the patterns, the Azorean islands aren’t prepared to face the associated impacts. The planning instruments, the political decisions and mostly the social barriers are strongly ignoring the potential risk. Human activities can be a strong additional triggering factor to the instability of coastal cliffs; nevertheless, recently the coastal morphology of the surroundings of Fajã do Calhau, a hazardous zone, suffered a major modification due to the construction of a new accessibility which might increase the cliff instability. However, the constructions 2 plans continue due to strong social pressure and a biass technical/political decision. The purpose of this paper is a brief assessment of the situation and possible outcomes