Impact of atmospheric circulation patterns on coastal dune dynamics, NW Spain
Dunes in temperate latitudes have experienced a significant stabilization in recent times, essentially as a consequence of the expansion of dense vegetation cover. Yet, the causes for this gradual stabilization as well as the causes promoting antecedent aeolian mobilization remain poorly understood....
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ftlneg:oai:repositorio.lneg.pt:10400.9/2331 2023-05-15T17:30:43+02:00 Impact of atmospheric circulation patterns on coastal dune dynamics, NW Spain González-Villanueva, Rita Costas, Susana Pérez-Arlucea, Marta Jerez, Sonia Trigo, Ricardo Machado 2014-03-19T21:08:05Z http://hdl.handle.net/10400.9/2331 eng eng http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.12.019 González-Villanueva, R. [et al.] - Impact of atmospheric circulation patterns on coastal dune dynamics, NW Spain. In: Geomorphology, Vol. 185 (1 March 2013), p. 96-109 0169-555X http://hdl.handle.net/10400.9/2331 openAccess Circulação atmosférica Actividade eólica Variações climáticas Duna costeira Dinâmica dunar Espanha (Noroeste) article 2014 ftlneg https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.12.019 2021-10-16T17:50:09Z Dunes in temperate latitudes have experienced a significant stabilization in recent times, essentially as a consequence of the expansion of dense vegetation cover. Yet, the causes for this gradual stabilization as well as the causes promoting antecedent aeolian mobilization remain poorly understood. The Traba coastal dune field, located in NW Spain, was examined to explore the causes inducing aeolian activity and subsequent stabilization since 1940. Morphological changes were identified through the combination of aerial photographs and geophysical techniques. Local wind field regimes were simulated using a regional climate model to obtain the variability of the most relevant modes of atmospheric circulation in the North Atlantic and European regions; North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Eastern Atlantic (EA) and Scandinavian (SCAND). This allows us to identify the impact of these circulation modes over dune dynamics. Results document an episode of aeolian activity during the 1950s followed by a gradual stabilization and fixation of the dune coincident with a decrease on storm and wind intensity. Yet, aeolian sand movement remained active in small areas (blowouts), occurring mainly during the summer. NE winds associated with a negative phase of the EA explain the movement of sand within the dune field under favorable conditions of sand supply. On the other hand, sand supply to the dune field from the beach was promoted by NW winds coincident with the summer negative phase of NAO. During winter, the negative NAO favored frequent SW winds associated with the passage of intense storms, which in turn explain sand remobilization from the beach making sediment available for the NW winds to blow inland. With this work, it is proven that to understand past and future aeolian activity requires critical consideration of the variability and impact of the two principal modes of atmospheric circulation in the North Atlantic (NAO and EA). The SCAND mode explaining a lower percentage of the local wind field variability was also included to achieve higher significance levels of explained variance. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Laboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia: Repositório Científico do LNEG Duna ENVELOPE(11.803,11.803,64.591,64.591) Geomorphology 185 96 109 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Laboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia: Repositório Científico do LNEG |
op_collection_id |
ftlneg |
language |
English |
topic |
Circulação atmosférica Actividade eólica Variações climáticas Duna costeira Dinâmica dunar Espanha (Noroeste) |
spellingShingle |
Circulação atmosférica Actividade eólica Variações climáticas Duna costeira Dinâmica dunar Espanha (Noroeste) González-Villanueva, Rita Costas, Susana Pérez-Arlucea, Marta Jerez, Sonia Trigo, Ricardo Machado Impact of atmospheric circulation patterns on coastal dune dynamics, NW Spain |
topic_facet |
Circulação atmosférica Actividade eólica Variações climáticas Duna costeira Dinâmica dunar Espanha (Noroeste) |
description |
Dunes in temperate latitudes have experienced a significant stabilization in recent times, essentially as a consequence of the expansion of dense vegetation cover. Yet, the causes for this gradual stabilization as well as the causes promoting antecedent aeolian mobilization remain poorly understood. The Traba coastal dune field, located in NW Spain, was examined to explore the causes inducing aeolian activity and subsequent stabilization since 1940. Morphological changes were identified through the combination of aerial photographs and geophysical techniques. Local wind field regimes were simulated using a regional climate model to obtain the variability of the most relevant modes of atmospheric circulation in the North Atlantic and European regions; North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Eastern Atlantic (EA) and Scandinavian (SCAND). This allows us to identify the impact of these circulation modes over dune dynamics. Results document an episode of aeolian activity during the 1950s followed by a gradual stabilization and fixation of the dune coincident with a decrease on storm and wind intensity. Yet, aeolian sand movement remained active in small areas (blowouts), occurring mainly during the summer. NE winds associated with a negative phase of the EA explain the movement of sand within the dune field under favorable conditions of sand supply. On the other hand, sand supply to the dune field from the beach was promoted by NW winds coincident with the summer negative phase of NAO. During winter, the negative NAO favored frequent SW winds associated with the passage of intense storms, which in turn explain sand remobilization from the beach making sediment available for the NW winds to blow inland. With this work, it is proven that to understand past and future aeolian activity requires critical consideration of the variability and impact of the two principal modes of atmospheric circulation in the North Atlantic (NAO and EA). The SCAND mode explaining a lower percentage of the local wind field variability was also included to achieve higher significance levels of explained variance. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
González-Villanueva, Rita Costas, Susana Pérez-Arlucea, Marta Jerez, Sonia Trigo, Ricardo Machado |
author_facet |
González-Villanueva, Rita Costas, Susana Pérez-Arlucea, Marta Jerez, Sonia Trigo, Ricardo Machado |
author_sort |
González-Villanueva, Rita |
title |
Impact of atmospheric circulation patterns on coastal dune dynamics, NW Spain |
title_short |
Impact of atmospheric circulation patterns on coastal dune dynamics, NW Spain |
title_full |
Impact of atmospheric circulation patterns on coastal dune dynamics, NW Spain |
title_fullStr |
Impact of atmospheric circulation patterns on coastal dune dynamics, NW Spain |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impact of atmospheric circulation patterns on coastal dune dynamics, NW Spain |
title_sort |
impact of atmospheric circulation patterns on coastal dune dynamics, nw spain |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10400.9/2331 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(11.803,11.803,64.591,64.591) |
geographic |
Duna |
geographic_facet |
Duna |
genre |
North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.12.019 González-Villanueva, R. [et al.] - Impact of atmospheric circulation patterns on coastal dune dynamics, NW Spain. In: Geomorphology, Vol. 185 (1 March 2013), p. 96-109 0169-555X http://hdl.handle.net/10400.9/2331 |
op_rights |
openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.12.019 |
container_title |
Geomorphology |
container_volume |
185 |
container_start_page |
96 |
op_container_end_page |
109 |
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1766127616635437056 |