On the Problem of Coastal Protection of the Varadero Resort (Cuba) with an Artificial Beach
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NE GEOLOGY
On the Problem of Coastal Protection of the Varadero Resort (Cuba) with an Artificial Beach N. N. Dunaeva, *, I. O. Leont’yeva, **, and J. L. J. Martib, *** a
Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia bInstituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICIMAR), Habana, Cuba *e-mail: [email protected] **e-mail: [email protected] ***e-mail: [email protected] Received March 3, 2020; revised March 3, 2020; accepted April 8, 2020
Abstract—The recent coastal dynamics of Varadero resort located on the Hicacos Peninsula (northern Cuba coast) demonstrate a trend of progressive beach erosion and degradation. This paper proposes an approach to coastal protection based on creating an artificial beach that should withstand extreme storm impact. The parameters for protecting a beach composed of biogenic sand (the most available material in the region of interest) are determined from the model [4, 8]. It is argued that material coarser than 0.4 mm can be used to build the beach in the central part of the Hicacos Peninsula. The maximum elevation of the beach should exceed 3.3 m. For an expected coastal advance 10, 20, or 30 m, sand in a volume of about 100, 180, or 250 m3 m–1 should be required. In the root part of the Hicacos Peninsula, where coastal slope is rather steep, construction of artificial beach is not economically practical, so another manner of coastal protection should be selected. Keywords: coastal erosion, artificial beach, biogenic sand, equilibrium profile, modeling DOI: 10.1134/S0001437020040086
INTRODUCTION Located in a humid tropical climate, the Republic of Cuba is one of the small island states that receives the multifaceted attention of the United Nations, which adopted a program for their sustainable development at a 1994 international conference in Bridgetown (Barbados). Among the specific measures for implementation of the program is international cooperation in various areas for strengthening their potential. For Cuba, one of these areas is expansion of international tourism based on the attractiveness of coastal resort vacations. The cream of the crop is the resort of Varadero, whose sandy beaches, stretching for about 10 km, have in recent decades been among the five best beaches on Earth, and in 2019 they took second place according to TripAdvisor, the largest tourist site [11]. The natural dynamics of the beaches have been noted since the 1970s, and their constant erosion is of great concern. Since the revenues from tourism in Varadero are more than 40% of the revenues of this economic sector, solving the sustainability of its beaches is very important. Fragmentary artificial sanding at different times in the area of beaches temporarily stabilizes their erosion, but it is expensive and does not solve the long-term problem [8, 10]. Currently, one promising method of beach protection is to construct artificial beaches. This paper
assesses the possibilities of their application for protecting the beaches of Varadero taking into account the geological, geomorphologic
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