Morfogènesi i dinàmica de la platja des Codolar (Eivissa, Illes Balears)

S'ha analitzat la textura dels còdols de la platja des Codolar, Eivissa, a partir del mostreig de quatre seccions de la platja. A cada secció s’han pres mostres de la berma superior i de la inferior, totalitzant el mesurament de 400 còdols. S'han analitzat la distribució dels còdols, la seva mida i la seva classificació. La forma dels còdols s’ha parametritzat a partir del diagrama de Zingg, l'índex d’Arrodoniment de Wadell, la màxima projecció de Esfericitat i l'índex Oblat-Prolat. El resultat mostra una clara gradació de sud-est a nord-oest tant en la grandària com en el arrodoniment i la esfericitat dels còdols. Això en indica clarament que la seva font d'alimentació són els despreniments del cap Falcó, i que el seu transport es produeix per deriva litoral envers el nord-oest. El resultat és la formació d'una barra litoral que fins i tot presenta formes atribuïbles a ventalls d’overwash, que juntament amb ventalls al·luvials delimiten una zona humida, que a l'actualitat ocupen les Salines d'Eivissa.The texture of the Es Codolar gravel beach, South of Ibiza, was analyzed from samples in four sections of the beach. In each section two samples have been taken: one from the upper berm and another from the lower one. A total of 400 pebbles and cobbles were measured. The distribution of shingles, their grain size and sorting have been analyzed. Shingle shape has been parameterized trough the Zingg diagram, the Wadell roundness index, the maximum projection of sphericity and the Oblate-Prolate Index. The results show a clear gradient both in grain size, roundness and the shingles sphericity from Southeast to Northwest. This clearly indicates that the source of sediment supply are located at Cap Falcó detachments, Transport is produced by long shore drift towards the Northwest and he result is the formation of a shingle barrier that closes a wetland that nowadays currently occupy by the Salinas of Ibiza

Las playas de Menorca: naturaleza y distribución

La costa de Menorca acoge 114 sistemas de playa que representan el 9,9% de la línea de costa de Menorca. Ubicadas en un ambiente micromareal y expuestas a oleajes que raras veces superan los 3m de altura significante, la mayoría de las playas menorquinas se caracterizan por presentar arenas biogénicas de medias a gruesas, estando su distribución y naturaleza condicionadas, principalmente, por el contexto morfoestructural de la isla. Tanto en lo tocante a la configuración fisiográfica de las playas y su espacio de acomodación como a la naturaleza y tipología del sedimento. En general, la tasa de evolución media de las playas de Menorca no presenta grandes problemas y se caracteriza por la estabilidad, una estabilidad reforzada por el carácter protegido o semi-protegido de las ensenadas que acogen a las playas o porque las playas más expuestas coinciden las acumulaciones de cantos y bloques al pie de acantiladosThe Menorcan coast contains 114 beach systems, which occupy 9,9% of the coastline. Menorcan beaches are characterized by a microtidal and a moderate wave energy environment where, at annual scale, in few occasions significant wave heights attend values larger than 3m. Biogenic medium to coarse sands beaches are the dominant feature, although the island morphostructure controls both: the type of beach and the sediment nature and/or texture. In average, the shoreline change rate for the island beaches shows a stability scenario reinforced by the large number of embayed and pocket beaches along the Menorcan coast. The beaches exposed to the most energetic waves tend show cobble-boulder beaches at the cliff-toeVersión del edito

Las playas de Menorca: naturaleza y distribución

La costa de Menorca acoge 114 sistemas de playa que representan el 9,9% de la línea de costa de Menorca. Ubicadas en un ambiente micromareal y expuestas a oleajes que raras veces superan los 3m de altura significante, la mayoría de las playas menorquinas se caracterizan por presentar arenas biogénicas de medias a gruesas, estando su distribución y naturaleza condicionadas, principalmente, por el contexto morfoestructural de la isla. Tanto en lo tocante a la configuración fisiográfica de las playas y su espacio de acomodación como a la naturaleza y tipología del sedimento. En general, la tasa de evolución media de las playas de Menorca no presenta grandes problemas y se caracteriza por la estabilidad, una estabilidad reforzada por el carácter protegido o semi-protegido de las ensenadas que acogen a las playas o porque las playas más expuestas coinciden las acumulaciones de cantos y bloques al pie de acantiladosThe Menorcan coast contains 114 beach systems, which occupy 9,9% of the coastline. Menorcan beaches are characterized by a microtidal and a moderate wave energy environment where, at annual scale, in few occasions significant wave heights attend values larger than 3m. Biogenic medium to coarse sands beaches are the dominant feature, although the island morphostructure controls both: the type of beach and the sediment nature and/or texture. In average, the shoreline change rate for the island beaches shows a stability scenario reinforced by the large number of embayed and pocket beaches along the Menorcan coast. The beaches exposed to the most energetic waves tend show cobble-boulder beaches at the cliff-toeVersión del edito

Impacts of use and abuse of nature in catalonia with proposals for sustainable management.

This paper provides an overview of the last 40 years of use, and in many cases abuse, of the natural resources in Catalonia, a country that is representative of European countries in general, and especially those in the Mediterranean region. It analyses the use of natural resources made by mining, agriculture, livestock, logging, fishing, nature tourism, and energy production and consumption. This use results in an ecological footprint, i.e., the productive land and sea surface required to generate the consumed resources and absorb the resulting waste, which is about seven times the amount available, a very high number but very similar to other European countries. This overexploitation of natural resources has a huge impact on land and its different forms of cover, air, and water. For the last 25 years, forests and urban areas have each gained almost 3% more of the territory at the expense of agricultural land; those municipalities bordering the sea have increased their number of inhabitants and activity, and although they only occupy 6.7% of the total surface area, they account for 43.3% of the population; air quality has stabilized since the turn of the century, and there has been some improvement in the state of aquatic ecosystems, but still only 36% are in good condition, while the remainder have suffered morphological changes and different forms of nonpoint source pollution; meanwhile the biodiversity of flora and fauna remains still under threat. Environmental policies do not go far enough so there is a need for revision of the legislation related to environmental impact and the protection of natural areas, flora, and fauna. The promotion of environmental research must be accompanied by environmental education to foster a society which ismore knowledgeable, has more control and influence over the decisions that deeply affect it. Indeed, nature conservation goes hand in hand with other social and economic challenges that require a more sustainable vision. Today’s problems with nature derive from the current economic model, which is environmentally unsustainable in that it does not take into account environmental impacts. Lastly, we propose a series of reasonable and feasible priority measures and actions related to each use made of the country’s natural resources, to the impacts they have had, and to their management, in the hope that these can contribute to improving the conservation and management of the environment and biodiversity and move towards sustainability