Sediment morpho dynamics of the bay of Agadir : multi-method approach and recommendations for an integrated management of the coastal zone

Les systèmes côtiers, où le transport sédimentaire est perturbé par les aménagements côtiers sur la côte et l’avant côte, fournissent généralement d'excellents exemples permettant de mettre en lumière ces liens. Cela est faisable lorsque l’ensemble des données bathymétriques d’avant-côte, qui ne sont pas toujours disponibles, sont recueillies au fil du temps. La baie et la ville d'Agadir forment ensemble un des pôles de développement économique le plus important de la côte atlantique du Maroc. En utilisant une approche méthodologique basée sur la modélisation de la houle et des courants, le différentiel de levées topo-bathymétriques, la détermination de l’évolution du trait de côte et le suivi topographique de la zone intertidale, nous mettons en évidence les liens étroits entre les variations des petits fonds et la ligne du trait de côte. Ces liens impliquent à la fois les voies de transport cross-shore et longshore, les variations du budget sédimentaire et la détermination de cellules sédimentaires. Nous avons également suivi l’évolution morphologique de la zone intertidale de la baie en réponse à huit tempêtes qui ont lieu entre Janvier 2014 et Mars 2014. Les résultats obtenus par les simulations numériques montrent que les deux premières tempêtes sont responsables des changements morphologiques majeurs au niveau de la zone intertidale.Coastal systems where sediment transport is perturbed by engineering interventions on the shoreline and shoreface commonly provide fine examples liable to throw light on these links. This is especially so where shoreface bathymetric datasets, which are generally lacking, are collected over time, enabling more or less fine resolution of the meso-scale coastal sediment budget. Agadir Bay and the city of Agadir together form one of the two most important economic development poles on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. Using a combined methodological approach based on wave–current modelling, bathymetric chart-differencing, determination of shoreline fluctuations, and beach topographic surveying, we highlight the close links between variations in the bed of the inner shoreface and the bay shoreline involving both cross-shore and longshore sand transport pathways, sediment budget variations and new sediment cell patterns. This work discusses also the morphological changes and evolution of Agadir Bay beach (Morocco) in response to eight storms between January 2014 and March 2014. A comparison is carried out of the evolution and variability of the beach in a sector of the bay protected by the commercial harbour of Agadir relative to a sector down drift of the harbour that is more exposed to waves, and changes affecting the beach following these storms are examined. Wave influence is evaluated using numerical simulations. The results show that despite being of relatively low intensity, the two first storm events, and especially storm 1, are responsible for major beach morphological changes

The problem of determining the threshold for statistical analysis by the POT method: Application to wave data on the Moroccan Atlantic coast

In a study of extreme waves by the Peak Over Threshold (POT) method, the determination of the threshold of data censoring is an essential step. A wrong choice of the threshold can lead to erroneous results of the wave height design and consequently a bad design of maritime structures such as breakwaters for deep sea ports. In this study, we analyzed the influence of the threshold variation on the results of the hundred-year return period waves, generally considered for the design of maritime structures. The sensitivity study allowed us to confirm that the exponential model is the best probability distribution to describe wave data in two points on the Moroccan Atlantic coast for the wave data period from 1958 to 2019. This study also confirmed that a wrong choice of the statistical distribution and a wrong choice of the threshold lead to significant errors in the estimation of design wave height

Modelling of Sediment Transport and Deposition in Generating River-Mouth Closure: Oum-Errabia River, Morocco

River mouths are dynamic systems that can respond rapidly to both fluxes in fluvial water and sediment discharge and marine energy conditions, notably waves. On semi-arid wave-exposed coasts, the morphosedimentary behaviour of river mouths is particularly sensitive to variations in water discharge, which can be significantly influenced by climate variations, in addition to anthropogenic actions such as the construction of dams for water resource needs. In this climatic setting, an increasingly common consequence of decreasing river water discharge is the more or less prolonged closure of river mouths. Most studies have addressed river-mouth closure using analytical, parametric, numerical, or statistical models. The present study uses output from four numerical models to elucidate the hydrodynamic and sedimentary behaviour of the mouth of the Oum-Errabia River (catchment size: 35,000 km2), which debouches on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. The historical evolution of the river mouth and the impact of human interventions, such as the construction of dams, are discussed. The study also briefly discusses the impact of the recent closure of the river outlet, in response to particularly low water discharge, on the marine ecosystem and water quality. The modelling results covering a one-year simulation in this situation of closure indicate a deposition of 427,400 m3 of sediment in front of the mouth of the Oum-Errabia. Ensuring permanent river-mouth opening and tidal flushing and renewal of this river’s estuarine waters will necessitate costly regular dredging

Dynamique morpho-sédimentaire de la baie d'Agadir : Caractérisation sédimentologique et évolution des petits fonds

International audienceLe littoral d'Agadir est une zone particulièrement intéressante pour comprendre l'influence des processus naturels et anthropiques sur la dynamique sédimentaire. Cette étude présente une méthodologie basée sur trois approches complémentaires ; 1) une caractérisation minéralogique et granulométrique des sédiments 2) une analyse à long terme des levées bathymétriques des fonds marins des deux périodes (1972-1993 et 1993-2012) et 3) une simulation numérique de la houle et des courants. La caractérisation granulométrique et minéralogique de la plage sableuse d'Agadir a été effectuée en analysant l'évolution spatiale des caractéristiques du sable le long de la plage et au niveau de ses différentes unités géomorphologiques. Pour cela, une campagne d'échantillonnage a été réalisée en janvier 2014 le long de 19 profils perpendiculaires à la ligne de rivage. Les résultats relatifs aux indices granulométriques et leurs distributions en fonction des unités morphologiques ont montré qu'il s'agit, généralement, de sables de taille moyenne, bien classés et presque symétriques. Cependant une variabilité de la distribution spatiale des grains de sable met en évidence l'effet combiné des agents de forçage (vagues et courants), la nature des fonds de l'avant côte et les sources des sédiments. Par ailleurs, la superposition des levés bathymétriques a permis le calcul des volumes de sables (cubatures) correspondant aux surfaces en érosion ou en accrétion et du bilan sédimentaire. Les résultats permettent de distinguer un secteur Nord en accrétion et un secteur Sud en érosion. Le bilan sédimentaire global de la baie est fortement négatif, les pertes de sédiments se chiffrent à plus de 145,000 m3 /an sur une surface de 8.5km2 en allant de la profondeur 0 à-12 m/Zh. Les simulations de la houle du courant ont permit de comprendre l'origine des changements qui ont eu lieu au niveau du shoreface : L'accrétion au nord et l'aggravation de l'érosion au sud sont en grande partie expliquées par les interventions humaines surtout la mise en place de la jetée principale du port de commerce qui a bloqué la dérive littoral et a perturbé le spectre de la houle

Anthropogenic effects on shoreface and shoreline changes: Input from a multi-method analysis, Agadir Bay, Morocco

International audienceIn many situations, the links between shoreline fluctuations and larger-scale coastal change embracing the shoreface are not always well understood. In particular, meso-scale (years to decades) sand exchanges between the shoreface and the shoreline, considered as important on many wave-dominated coasts, are rather poorly understood and difficult to identify. Coastal systems where sediment transport is perturbed by engineering interventions on the shoreline and shoreface commonly provide fine examples liable to throw light on these links. This is especially so where shoreface bathymetric datasets, which are generally lacking, are collected over time, enabling more or less fine resolution of the meso-scale coastal sediment budget Agadir Bay and the city of Agadir together form one of the two most important economic development poles on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. Using a combined methodological approach based on wave current modelling, bathymetric chart-differencing, determination of shoreline fluctuations, and beach topographic surveying, we highlight the close links between variations in the bed of the inner shoreface and the bay shoreline involving both cross-shore and longshore sand transport pathways, sediment budget variations and new sediment cell patterns. We show that the significant changes that have affected the bay shoreline and shoreface since 1978 clearly reflect anthropogenic impacts, notably blocking of alongshore sand transport by Agadir harbour, completed in 1988, and the foundations of which lie well beyond the depth of wave closure. Construction of the harbour has led to the creation of a rapidly accreting beach against an original portion of rocky shoreline updrift and to a net sand loss exceeding 145,000 m(3)/year between 1978 and 2012 over 8.5 km(2) of the bay shoreface downdrift. Shoreline retreat has been further exacerbated by sand extraction from aeolian dunes and by flattening of these dunes to make space for tourist infrastructure. Digital elevation models of part of the bay beach between 2012 and 2014 confirm this on-going sand loss. These changes have involved the establishment of two divergent longshore bay sediment cells instead of the original single unidirectional cell. A prospective view of these changes suggests that perturbation of longshore drift and the on-going bay sediment budget deficit will eventual directly pose threats to the harbour access and to coastal tourism on which the economic growth of Agadir has been built. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Alongshore variations in morphology and incident wave energy on a human-impacted coast: Agadir, Morocco.

14th International Coastal Symposium (ICS), Sydney, AUSTRALIA, MAR 06-11, 2016International audienceBeaches in developing countries are increasingly affected by human impacts, notably the construction of harbors and tourist infrastructure. In Morocco, the city of Agadir is a fine example of this situation. Agadir was destroyed by an earthquake in 1960 (5.7 on the My scale and 60,000 dead). The Agadir city front corresponds to a semi-sheltered bay that has been strongly impacted by economic development and rapid (> 10% a year) demographic growth in the course of its recovery following this earthquake. The northern sector of the bay is sheltered by a commercial harbor constructed in 1988. In order to understand how this harbor has affected sediment circulation, the morphology and hydrodynamics of the beach have been monitored since 2012. This study discusses beach morphological variations between the harbor-sheltered northern sector and the exposed southern sector. The offshore and nearshore wave regime, analysed using the MIKE 21 coupled model Fin, is largely dominated by waves approaching from the north. The modeling results show that wave energy attenuation between the inner shelf and the shore in the northern sector ranges from 30% to 80% as a result of diffraction caused by the harbor breakwater, whereas the southern sector is exposed to much higher waves. Two digital elevation models obtained in March 2012 and April 2015, confirm these expected results from the alongshore wave-energy gradient, and show that the northern sector of the beach is largely dominated by accretion, whereas the southern sector is undergoing erosion

Laboratory Experiments on the Influence of the Wave Spectrum Enhancement Factor on a Rubble Mound Breakwater

This paper experimentally explored the influence of the wave spectrum shape variation on breakwater design. The energy spectrum function generally considered for the design of coastal structures is the JONSWAP spectrum. The laboratory results were therefore used to assess the impact of changing the spectrum shape parameter (PEF). We analysed armour stability and wave overtopping in a wave flume with a geometric similarity ratio of 1:30. The experimental results showed that the PEF has maximum influence on overtopping and wave pressures on the crown wall. For a PEF value of 3.3, overtopping was much higher (30% to 100% higher) than with a PEF of 1. Pressure on the crown wall was 20% higher with a PEF of 3.3 in comparison with that for a PEF equal to 1. The stability of the breakwater’s block armour is less sensitive to the PEF variation