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An investigation of the evolution of the beach zone of the St. Georgios Bay (Naxos Island, Aegean Sea) in relation to its morphological and hydrodynamical characteristics.

Citation:

Eleftheriou K, Evelpidou N, Poulos S, Andris P, Vassilopoulos A. An investigation of the evolution of the beach zone of the St. Georgios Bay (Naxos Island, Aegean Sea) in relation to its morphological and hydrodynamical characteristics. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece. 2008;XLII/II:14-22.

Abstract:

The shallow bay of St. Georgios is situated in the northwestern part of the Naxos Island and it is characterized by a 2.7 km long sandy coast consisting of fine-grained (sandy) material. Sand dunes are the landward limit of the beach zone, whilst at the southwestern part of the coast an extensive lagoon plain has been formed. A partially emerged reef and the morphologically associated Manto islet protect the middle and southwestern part of the beach zone from the most frequent (>40% annually) incoming N waves and the highest NW waves (>3 m). The coastal zone is under erosion as shown by the reduction in size (>50%) of the Manto islet and the extensive erosion of the foredunes, despite the reduction of the incoming wave energy due to the reef presence. The continuous erosion (lowering) of the reef in connection with the expected eustatic sea level rise is anticipated to cause further retreat of the shoreline, demolishing the sand dune field and inundating the nearby low-lying hinterland area.