Relationship between wave energy and coastal morphology in the central Algarve rocky coast (Galé to Olhos de Água)

The coastal zones’ geomorphological evolution is the result of subaereal weathering and marine abrasion. To quantify the role of the waves’ action as a geomorphic process particularly on shore platforms sculpture is the main goal of the current work. For that purpose, a numerical modeling for wave propagation (STWAVE) was used to determine differences on breaking wave characteristics along the study area. This program was used inside an operational toolbox (SMS 9.2) that allows data pre-processing from a GIS software (ArcGIS 9.2). The MATLAB R2007a software was used to obtain significant wave heights and wave energy at the breaking position along the study area, for each tested condition. The different coastal morphologies and mass movements were identified on the field and compared with the described evolution in literature (Marques, 1997). Since the study area presents strong longshore variation in exposition to the waves and different wave energies, several sections were defined. It was then possible to analyze the frequency of occurrence of a given coastal morphology and the frequency of mass movements for each section and compare with longshore variations on wave energy for both average and storm conditions.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, FEDER and OE