High-energy events and their effects on the coastal zone of Aquiraz county, Ceará State

Abstract

This article aims to make a methodological survey of such mechanisms as will be useful for understanding the underlying  conditions that relate high-energy events to the occurrence of erosion risks, vulnerability and impacts in the frontal dunes and  beach strip in natural and semi-urban areas of Aquiraz county, Ceará State. Some of those phenomena are increasingly frequent  in the coastal zone, namely tropical cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes, seaquakes, apart from the relative rise in sea level. This  research highlights storm surges and overtopping associated to swell waves, and rising ocean waters of the Atlantic. Several  articles, theses and technical reports have been written about these processes. Undertow events followed by overwash occur  seasonally off the Ceará state’s coast, leaving marks in beaches already in early stages of degradation. These problems have  increased as well as the frequency of undertows throughout the coast. In the study area dating back to the 1950s, so that  it is  urgent to seek efficient means to stop such from reaching the coastal zone. In this case, the forecast and prevention should be  defined by a medium-range survey together a fuller interpretation of oceanographic parameters. The expected outcome could  likely be the identification of the main factors that are supposed to be interfering with the coastal dynamics of Aquiraz county.