The role of fringing coral reefs on beach morphodynamics

This paper examines the degree of energy dissipation provided by a fringing coral reef, and its role on the morphodynamics of adjacent beaches in terms of volumetric sediment transport. Morphological data were collected from the microtidal Mexican Caribbean beaches of Puerto Morelos, fringed by a reef, and Cancun, without a reef, from September 2007 to May 2011. Being exposed to the same offshore wave conditions, the morphodynamics of the coral reef-fronted beach were compared with those of the adjacent beach without a coral reef. Spatio-temporal changes in beach morphology were determined applying empirical orthogonal functions (EOF) to the shorelines extracted from the topographic data, and it was concluded that Puerto Morelos was considerably less dynamic than Cancun. The longshore energy fluxes were larger in Cancun, and the subaerial morphological differences in both beaches and under the same offshore conditions demonstrated that Puerto Morelos was particularly stable under shore-normal easterly waves. A calibrated phase-averaged wave model was implemented to determine the amount of wave energy dissipation across the coral reef. For energetic shore-normal waves the model determined that the semi-emerged coral reef was capable of reducing up to 85% of the incident wave height. The reef-crest height controlled the amount of wave energy dissipation, and the distance between the reef-crest and the shore determined the vulnerability of the beach to morphological changes. Reef-crest degradation by 1 m resulted in a 10% increase in incoming wave energy, which resulted in 0.9 m3/h/m of sand being mobilised along the beaches closer to the reef.