“Evoluzione delle spiagge tirreniche nord calabresi negli ultimi 50 anni”

ABSTRACT: Coastal erosion and degradation is of paramount importance for a peninsular region like Calabria, which has only 6% of plains (concentrated along its coast) and whose economy depends largely on sea-side tourism. This paper is aimed to reconstruct and interpret the very recent (1953÷83 and 1983÷99) coastline evolution of a 80 km reach of the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria. Data regarding beach progradation and retreat were obtained by comparing aerial photos and topographic maps of different epochs, coupled with direct measurements of the present (1999) beach width at numerous control points. The lithological nature of beach deposits sampled in twenty sites was also used to delineate the geomorphological domains feeding the various coastal sectors. In order to evaluate the role of human impact on the fluvial supply of sediments to the beaches, the major streams of the study area were classified by different degrees of artificial canalization. By analysing the obtained d...