Abstract

GALVIS-GOMEZ, Milton Andrés. Shoreline Change Analysis in Tubará and Puerto Colombia (Atlántico, Colombia). Bol. geol. [online]. 2025, vol.47, n.2, pp.83-105.  Epub Sep 16, 2025. ISSN 0120-0283.  https://doi.org/10.18273/revbol.v47n2-2025004.

The shoreline position depends on multiple geological, oceanographic, climatological or atmospheric, and anthropogenic factors. In the Colombian Caribbean, 48.3 % of the shoreline is undergoing erosion, 33.2 % is considered stable, and the remaining 18.4 % is experiencing accretion. In the Atlántico department, 55 % of the shoreline has high and medium erosion hazard, with the area of Puerto Colombia being the most critical. This study analyzes and quantifies the shoreline change between Tubará and Puerto Colombia through the interpretation of satellite images from 1973 to 2024 and integrates the results with the evolution of this sector based on existing historical records (dating back approximately 1600). Sand bodies located at the mouth of the Magdalena river migrate southwestward due to littoral drift and go through the stages of establishment (D1), breakdown (D2), and stranding (D3-S4) around 1985 followed by the initiation (D0) or formation of the Puerto Velero spit. These processes are associated with shoreline changes in the area adjacent to the Balboa lagoon (Z2), where very high erosion rates are observed (WLRmin = -27 m/year) leading to a reduction in the water body's by 2024 of 75 % less than its of the maximum recorded in 1985. The growth of the Puerto Velero spit (Z4) occurs at a rate of +119 m/year (WLR), and by 2024 has reached an approximate length of 5.3 km. In the area adjacent to Cabo Barro (Z5), the sand body migrated southward from 1985 until its relative stabilization in 2010, resulting in the formation of a beach zone protected from wave action by the current position of the Puerto Velero spit.

Keywords : Multitemporal analysis; Erosion; Accretion; Geomorphology; Puerto Velero spit; DSAS.

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