Papers by Inmaculada Santalla
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, Mar 31, 2023
Coastal wetlands are valuable and sensitive environments that are among the most productive yet h... more Coastal wetlands are valuable and sensitive environments that are among the most productive yet highly threatened systems in the world. They are typically located in areas where freshwater and saltwater mix, such as estuaries, lagoons, deltas, and have many forms, including mangrove forests, salt marshes, seagrass beds and tidal flats . These ecosystems are characterized by a unique combination of hydrology, soil conditions, and vegetation that allows them to thrive in the harsh coastal environment. The complexity of coastal wetland systems can be better understood within the context of the biogeomorphology that includes the coastal landscapes of which they are a part. They provide numerous ecosystem services, including habitats for wildlife, water filtration, carbon sequestration, and storm protection . One of the most important roles of wetlands is the regulation of global climate change through sequestering and releasing a major proportion of fixed carbon in the biosphere. Global climate change is expected to exacerbate the loss and degradation of many coastal wetlands and the loss or decline of their species and to harm the human populations dependent on their services; however, projections about the extent of such loss and degradation or decline are not yet well-established. The Special Issue "Coastal Wetlands" includes eight contributions published during 2020-2022. The contributions can be subdivided into the following subjects: cartography, carbon sequestration, halophytic vegetation and impacts of global climate change. Historical mapping provides very valuable information for the understanding of the geomorphological evolution of the coastal wetlands, and, in most cases, it represents the first step in the analysis of coastal processes . Piccardi et al. (2020) [3] have carried out an interesting study on the historical evolution (16th-20th Century) of Cispatá Bay and Mestizos (Colombian Caribbean coast) from ancient documents and maps. They have had to review about 500 manuscripts or printed maps produced from the 16th century to 1937, time when the Tinajones delta was formed in the mouth of Sinu River. Some cartographies were georeferenced, and others were visually analyzed. The analysis of all the documents clarifies the evolution of this coastal stretch and allows establishing a new reconstruction of the formation stages of Cispatá bay. Carbon sequestration is one of the most important ecosystem services provided by coastal wetlands. Coastal wetlands can capture carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from the atmosphere and store it in plants and in the soil, helping to mitigate the effects of climate change. Coastal wetlands are among the most effective natural carbon sinks on the planet, removing up to 10 times more carbon per unit area than tropical rainforests . Mao et al. (2021) [5] measured total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), and stable carbon isotopes (δ 13 C), in surface sediments from vegetated intertidal saltmarsh areas and bare tidal flat sediments near (BF1) and far (BF2) from the vegetated areas, along the Rudong Coast (eastern coast of China). These observations were used to explore the spatial distribution of organic carbon in different depositional environments. The distribution and sources of organic carbon were examined under different depositional environments based on C/N ratios and a two-terminal mixing model. The results showed that the organic carbon content of the vegetated saltmarsh sediment is higher than that of the bare tidal flat areas, with the tidal flat sediments nearer to the vegetated area (BF1) having a relatively
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 2021
The aim of this work is to apply a vulnerability index in the dune field located in the Riumar ur... more The aim of this work is to apply a vulnerability index in the dune field located in the Riumar urban zone at the mouth of the Ebro River. This dune field represents the natural barrier of the El Garxal coastal lagoon system. The index used integrates the dimensions of exposure, susceptibility, and resilience from the analysis of 19 variables. The results obtained show moderate susceptibility and high resilience, which are in line with the behavior of this dune field during the last sea storms (Gloria in January 2020 and Philomena in January 2021, among others) that have tested the capacity of this system to cope with the effects of these storms. Therefore, increasing the knowledge of the factors affecting the vulnerability of the dunes can be helpful in the management and conservation of these coastal environments.
The Spanish Coastal Systems, 2018
Geologica Acta, 2012
The weathered and fractured conglomerate cliffs of Mont Roig del Camp constitute a rock fall haza... more The weathered and fractured conglomerate cliffs of Mont Roig del Camp constitute a rock fall hazard for the surrounding pocket beaches and, therefore, for the population that frequent them, especially over the summer. Landslide susceptibility of the cliff has been assessed using the Rock Engineering System method (RES). The determinant and triggering factors considered in this study include: wave exposure, shoreline variations, cliff height, cliff slope, geotechnical quality of the rocky mass, superficial runoff and cliff orientations favoring landslides. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been employed to facilitate the information analysis and generate new susceptibility maps. The quality of the rock mass and cliff orientation are the most interactive factors for the stability of the cliff. However, shoreline variations and surface runoff are the most dominant factors in the system. Thus, the quality of the rock mass has been determined to be a basic variable in the cliff c...
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 2021
Coastal wetlands are dynamic ecosystems that exist at the interface between land and sea. They re... more Coastal wetlands are dynamic ecosystems that exist at the interface between land and sea. They represent environments with a great diversity of habitats and communities, high carbon sequestration capacity and a wide range of ecosystem services. In the Mediterranean, the largest coastal wetlands are found in deltaic areas like that of the Ebro River (Spain), which has a coastline length of approximately 50 km, occupying a total area of 325 km2. The Ebro Delta is included in different national and international frameworks for environmental conservation, despite which there are several risks that threaten it. The lack of sedimentary contributions due to the regulation of the Ebro riverbed (irrigation, reservoirs, and hydroelectric power generation) has caused erosion and the retreat of certain sections of its coastline. To this situation of sediment deficit must be added the threat posed by the effects of global change, such as the rise in sea level, the increase in temperature and in ...
Interciencia, 2013
caMbIOs De caNal DUraNTe lOs ÚlTIMOs 60 aÑOs eN el sIsTeMa aNasTOMOsaDO Del cUrsO MeDIO Del rÍO a... more caMbIOs De caNal DUraNTe lOs ÚlTIMOs 60 aÑOs eN el sIsTeMa aNasTOMOsaDO Del cUrsO MeDIO Del rÍO aPUre, veNeZUela rOsIrIs GUZMáN, MaxIMIlIaNO beZaDa e INMacUlaDa rODrÍGUeZ os cambios de canal son considerados como componente natural y vital en el funcionamiento de los sistemas fluviales (Brierley y Fryirs, 2005). Los ríos, cualquiera sea el tamaño de su cuenca, experimentan cambios constantes en su forma y en las dimensiones de sus parámetros más importantes, pues constituyen sistemas muy dinámicos controlados por el régimen hidrológico y las características del transporte de sedimentos . Tales cambios son a veces inherentes al propio sistema, cuando la cuenca está
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Coastal wetlands are valuable and sensitive environments that are among the most productive yet h... more Coastal wetlands are valuable and sensitive environments that are among the most productive yet highly threatened systems in the world [...]
Remote Sensing
La Banya spit, located at the south of the River Ebro Delta, is a sandy formation, developed by a... more La Banya spit, located at the south of the River Ebro Delta, is a sandy formation, developed by annexation of bars forming successive beach ridges, which are oriented and modeled by the eastern and southern waves. The initial ridges run parallel to the coastline, and above them small dunes developed, the crests of which are oriented by dominant winds, forming foredune ridges and barchans. This study attempted to test a number of techniques in order to understand the dune dynamic on this coastal spit between 2004 and 2012: LiDAR data were used to reconstruct changes to the surface and volume of the barchan dunes and foredunes; ground-penetrating radar was applied to obtain an image of their internal structure, which would help to understand their recent evolution. GPS data taken on the field, together with application of GIS techniques, made possible the combination of results and their comparison. The results showed a different trend between the barchan dunes and the foredunes. Whil...
Granulometric characterization of sediments in the anastomosed system of the Apure river Venezuela
Journal of South American Earth Sciences
A Modeling Approach to Assess the Key Factors in the Evolution of Coastal Systems: the Ebro North Hemidelta Case
Estuaries and Coasts, 2016
Application of change detection techniques in geomorphological evolution of coastal areas. Example: Mouth of the River Ebro (period 1957–2013)
Applied Geography, 2016
Las dunas del Delta del Ebro
Las Dunas En Espana 2011 Isbn 978 84 615 3780 8 Pags 207 224, 2011
Cellular automata to understand the behaviour of beach-dune systems: Application to El Fangar Spit active dune system (Ebro delta, Spain)
Computers & Geosciences, 2016
La enseñanza de los Sistemas de Información Geográfica ante el EEES
I Encuentro De Intercambio De Experiencias En Innovacion Docente En La Universidad Rey Juan Carlos Recurso Electronico 2009 Isbn 978 84 692 6552 9 Pag 45, 2009
Proceso de consecución y evaluación de competencias en la asignatura de Sistemas de Información Geográfica
Evaluacion De Competencias En El Marco Del Espacio Europeo De Educacion Superior 2010 Isbn 978 84 693 4610 5 Pags 210 214, 2010
Analysis of geomorphologic changes occurred in the mouth Ebro delta through the use of techniques... more Analysis of geomorphologic changes occurred in the mouth Ebro delta through the use of techniques for detection of change (period 1957-2009) J. M. Ramírez Cuesta (1), I. Rodríguez Santalla (1), M. J. Sánchez García (1), I. Montoya Montes (1), R. Romero-Calcerrada (1) y F.J. Gracia (2).
Longshore sediment plays a major role in coastal evolution; however its quantification still rely... more Longshore sediment plays a major role in coastal evolution; however its quantification still rely on empirical formulas calibrated with disparate field techniques. This work aims to evaluate and compare the longshore drift estimated by empirical formulations and experimental predictors. In order to achieve this objective it was carried out a field campaign at El Fangar spit (Ebro Delta, Spain), involving a fluorescent tracer experiment, suspended sediment estimation (with sediment traps and optical backscatter sensors - OBS) and measurement of waves and currents (with a pressure transducer and an electromagnetic current meter). The longshore transport rate estimated with tracer data are of the same order of magnitude than rate computed with the standard energy longshore flux method and one order of magnitude higher than the rate estimated with OBS data.
The longshore sediment transport is one of the most determinant processes in the evolution of lit... more The longshore sediment transport is one of the most determinant processes in the evolution of littoral spits and therefore its estimates has a very important role in the study of these coastal landforms evolution and forecast. The aim of this work is to compare the longshore drift estimated by three independent methods (coastline evolution, energy flux model and a sediment tracer experiment) in order to assess its consistence at El Fangar Spit (Ebro Delta, Spain). The coastline evolution model for the period of 2002-2011 yields transport rates around 2.0×105 m3 year-1, despite the uncertainties related to the sediment input from the river. The energy flux model nearly doubled this estimation if a default constant is used. On the other hand, the energy flux model estimation is roughly half of the tracer result to the same conditions. The field data acquired revealed the importance of wind in the transport process and may explain the differences between methods.
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Papers by Inmaculada Santalla