IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v11y2022i4p524-d786948.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Interconnections between Coastal Sediments, Hydrodynamics, and Ecosystem Profiles on the Mexican Caribbean Coast

Author

Listed:
  • Juan Carlos Alcérreca-Huerta

    (Departamento de Observación y Estudio de la Tierra, la Atmósfera y el Océano, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT-ECOSUR), Chetumal 77014, Mexico)

  • Cesia J. Cruz-Ramírez

    (Instituto de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico)

  • Laura R. de Almeida

    (Instituto de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico)

  • Valeria Chávez

    (Instituto de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico)

  • Rodolfo Silva

    (Instituto de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico)

Abstract

The interconnections between hydrodynamics, coastal sediments, and ecosystem distribution were analysed for a ~250 km strip on the northern Mexican Caribbean coast. Ecosystems were related to the prevailing and extreme hydrodynamic conditions of two contrasting coastal environments in the study area: Cancun and Puerto Morelos. The results show that the northern Mexican Caribbean coast has fine and medium sands, with grain sizes decreasing generally, from north of Cancun towards the south of the region. Artificial beach nourishments in Cancun have affected the grain size distribution there. On beaches with no reef protection, larger grain sizes (D 50 > 0.46 mm) are noted. These beaches are subject to a wide range of wave-induced currents (0.01–0.20 m/s) and have steeper coastal profiles, where sediments, macroalgae and dune-mangrove systems predominate. The coastline with the greatest amount of built infrastructure coincides with beaches unprotected by seagrass beds and coral reefs. Where islands or coral reefs offer protection through less intense hydrodynamic conditions, the beaches have flatter profiles, the dry beach is narrow, current velocities are low (~0.01–0.05 m/s) and sediments are finer (D 50 < 0.36 mm). The results offer a science-based description of the interactions between physical processes and the role played by land uses for other tropical coastal ecosystems.

Suggested Citation

  • Juan Carlos Alcérreca-Huerta & Cesia J. Cruz-Ramírez & Laura R. de Almeida & Valeria Chávez & Rodolfo Silva, 2022. "Interconnections between Coastal Sediments, Hydrodynamics, and Ecosystem Profiles on the Mexican Caribbean Coast," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-22, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:4:p:524-:d:786948
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/4/524/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/4/524/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mayrene Guimarais & Adán Zúñiga-Ríos & Cesia J. Cruz-Ramírez & Valeria Chávez & Itxaso Odériz & Brigitta I. van Tussenbroek & Rodolfo Silva, 2021. "The Conservational State of Coastal Ecosystems on the Mexican Caribbean Coast: Environmental Guidelines for Their Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-24, March.
    2. Juan Carlos Alcérreca-Huerta & Jorge R. Montiel-Hernández & Mariana E. Callejas-Jiménez & Dulce A. Hernández-Avilés & Giorgio Anfuso & Rodolfo Silva, 2020. "Vulnerability of Subaerial and Submarine Landscapes: The Sand Falls in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Rodolfo Silva & María Luisa Martínez & Brigitta I. van Tussenbroek & Laura Odette Guzmán-Rodríguez & Edgar Mendoza & Jorge López-Portillo, 2020. "A Framework to Manage Coastal Squeeze," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-20, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eloy Gayosso-Soto & Sergio Cohuo & Joan Alberto Sánchez-Sánchez & Laura Macario-González & Carmen Amelia Villegas-Sánchez & Alejandro Medina-Quej & Jorge Manuel Tello-Chan & Leopoldo Querubín Cutz-Poo, 2024. "The Environmental Legal Framework of Mexican Caribbean Dunes: A Retrospective Case Study of Vegetation and Coastal Dune Loss in the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-24, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pedro Aguilar & Edgar Mendoza & Rodolfo Silva, 2021. "Interaction between Tourism Carrying Capacity and Coastal Squeeze in Mazatlan, Mexico," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-24, August.
    2. Jing Zhang & Yan Zhang & Huw Lloyd & Zhengwang Zhang & Donglai Li, 2021. "Rapid Reclamation and Degradation of Suaeda salsa Saltmarsh along Coastal China’s Northern Yellow Sea," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-13, August.
    3. Kaihang Zhou & Scott Hawken, 2023. "Climate-Related Sea Level Rise and Coastal Wastewater Treatment Infrastructure Futures: Landscape Planning Scenarios for Negotiating Risks and Opportunities in Australian Urban Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-23, June.
    4. Eva M. Lansu & Valérie C. Reijers & Solveig Höfer & Arjen Luijendijk & Max Rietkerk & Martin J. Wassen & Evert Jan Lammerts & Tjisse Heide, 2024. "A global analysis of how human infrastructure squeezes sandy coasts," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-7, December.
    5. Yusuf Kristiadi & Riri Fitri Sari & Herdis Herdiansyah & Hayati Sari Hasibuan & Tiong Hoo Lim, 2022. "Developing DPSIR Framework for Managing Climate Change in Urban Areas: A Case Study in Jakarta, Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-30, November.
    6. Odette Guzmán & Edgar Mendoza & Brigitta I. van Tussenbroek & Rodolfo Silva, 2023. "Effects of Climate-Change-Related Phenomena on Coastal Ecosystems in the Mexican Caribbean," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-27, August.
    7. Kelly M. Kibler & Christian Pilato & Linda J. Walters & Melinda Donnelly & Jyotismita Taye, 2022. "Hydrodynamic Limitations to Mangrove Seedling Retention in Subtropical Estuaries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:4:p:524-:d:786948. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.