Human activities and coastal engineering works cause both direct and indirect transformations on coastal processes, having an environmental impact on the coastal system. Therefore, these activities and their effects must be analyzed before their origin, even outside the physiographic unit in question, in order to define the coastal morphoevolution tendency.
The beach in the Castellammare di Stabia Gulf borders seawards the Sarno River alluvial plain (southern Italy). The geomorphological evolution of the plain conditioned the physiography of the coast, on which the effects of the human activities have been superimposed. The plain expands for about 200 square kilometers, from the artificial harbour of Torre Annunziata to that of Castellammare di Stabia, estending for about 13 kilometers in length. It is delimited to the north by Somma-Vesuvio volcanic complex, eastward by the Sarno massif, southward by carbonatic reliefs of the Sorrento Peninsula and westward by the Gulf of Napoli. Along the coast, there are rare traces of palaeo shorelines and dunes, partially obliterated, while present dunes are completely absent. The latter have been completely leveled and anthropized with the construction of industrial complexes and houses.
Author(s) Details:
Giuseppe Pecoraro
Giunta Regione Lombardia, Milano, Italy.
Micla Pennetta
Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, Napoli, Italy.
Recent global research developments in Coastal Morphoevolution: Human Impacts on Castellammare di Stabia Gulf
1. Innovations in Coastal Morphodynamic Modeling
- This research topic focuses on analyzing the dynamics and morpho-sedimentary evolution of various coastal systems, including lagoons, beach-dune systems, barriers, and river mouths. The equilibrium conditions of these systems are increasingly altered by natural factors, anthropogenic pressure, and climate change [1].
2. Modelling Coastal Morphodynamic Evolution under Human Impacts
- Human activities significantly impact coastal and estuarine morphogenetic evolution. Understanding these impacts is crucial for predicting future morphological changes and maintaining ecosystem health. Existing literature has explored modeling the effects of human activities on morphological changes in coastal environments [2].
References
1. Liu, Gen, Feng Cai, Hongshuai Qi, Jianhui Liu, Chao Cao, Shaohua Zhao, Yanyu He, Jun Zhu, Chao Yin, and Wenyuan Mo. “Decadal evolution of a sandy beach adjacent to a river mouth under natural drivers and human impacts.” Frontiers in Marine Science 11: 1384780.
2. Deng J, Yu H. Modelling Coastal Morphodynamic Evolution under Human Impacts: A Review. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. 2023; 11(7):1426. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11071426
