Keywords
Quepos
coastal erosion
geomorphology changes
mareographic components
How to Cite
Abstract
Fifthy years of geomorphologic change in Damas Island, Quepos, Costa Rica, were studied from a photographic record that is available since 1947. Coastal dynamics were accelerated by the El Niño Phenomenon in 1997 which was simultaneous with the August-September astronomical tide, one of the highest in the 4-5 year cycle. Additionally, waves with high energy were present in some periods of these months. Processes were enough to break the island in two blocks and to initialize erosion and transport sediment that continues to date. The frequency of tropical storms and the wave energy will be greater in the next years increasing sediment instability processes in parts of the island. Two topographic profiles have shown that the island is not in equilibrium and that adding all the possible mareographic components it will be prone to continued erosion. The marine habitats around the island should be changing because the fresh and salt water input has been modified, specially because alteration in the Parrita and Paquita hydrological river basins, and its effects on the sediments of this system.References
Bergoeing, J. P. 1998. Geomorfología de Costa Rica. Instituto Geográfico Nacional. 409 p.
Cordero, L.F. 1988. Imágenes de satélite llegan hasta los manglares. Crisol. San José, Costa Rica. 4: 22-24.
Fernández, W. 1991. Cambios Climáticos: El Calentamien-to Global. Tecnología en Marcha. 11: 11-12.
Gill, E. A. 1982. Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics. Academic Press. Nueva York. 662 p.
Leatherman, S. P. 1988. Barrier Island Handbook. Coastal Publications Series. The University of Maryland. 92 p.
Leatherman, S. P. 1997. Island States at Risk: Global Climate Change, Development and Population. J. of Coastal Research. Special Issue #24. The Coastal Education & Research Foundation. 242 p.
Lizano, O.G. 1997. Las mareas extraordinarias de 1997 en la costa Pacífica de Costa Rica. Tóp. Meteorol. Oceanog. 4: 169-179.
Lizano, O.G. 1998a. Isla Damas: Fenómeno El Niño y calentamiento global. Comentarios. Presencia Universitaria. 55-56: 3, 16.
Lizano, O.G. 1998b. Estudio sobre dinámica costera alrededor de Puerto Quepos, Puntarenas. Informe Técnico a Consutoría Ecológica y Técnica de Costa Rica (ECOTEC). 28 p.
Lizano, O. G. y W. Fernández. 1996. Algunas características de las tormentas tropicales y de los huracanes que atravesaron o se formaron en el Caribe adyacente a Costa Rica durante el período 1886-1988. Tóp. Meteorol. Oceanog. 3(1): 3-10.
Maul, G. A. 1993a. Ecosystem and Socioeconomic Response to Future Climatic Conditions in the Marine and Coastal Regions of the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Bahamas and the Northeast Coast of South America. Caribbean Environment Programme. CEP Technical Report No. 22. 43 p.
Maul, G. A. 1993b. Climatic Change in the Intra-Americas Sea. Edward Arnold. Nueva York. 389 p.
Pugh, D. T. 1987. Tide Surges and Mean Sea Level. John Wiley & Sons. Nueva York. 473 p.
Pugh, D. T. 1996. Coastal Sea Level Prediction for Climate Change. GLOSS Workshop. Comisión Oceanográfica Intergubernamental, UNESCO. Buenos Aires, Argentina. 7 p.
Sorensen, R. M. 1978. Basic Coastal Engineering. John Wiley & Sons. Nueva York. 227 p.
Stanley, D.J. & D.J.P. Swift 1976. Marine Sediment Transport and Environmental Managament. John Wiley & Sons. Nueva York. 592 p.
Vernette, G. 1996. Small Island Geology: An Overview. Part III. p. 188-204. En Maul, G.A. (ed.). Coastal and Estuarine Small Islands Marine Science and Sustainable Development. American Geophysical Union. Washington DC. 467 p.
Warrick, R. & J. Oerlemans. 1992. Aumento del Nivel del Mar. p. 284-307. En Instituto Nacional de Meteorología (ed.). Cambio Climático, Evaluación Científica del IPCC. Organización Meteorológica Mundial. Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente. Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes, España. 180 p.
Comments
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2001 Revista de Biología Tropical