Variation in beach morphology and identification of an erosional hot spot at Itapocorói Bay, SC. Varia o Da Morfologia Praial E Identifica o De Zonas De Eros o Acentuada (ZEA) Na Enseada Do Itapocorói - SC

The main objective of this work was to describe the morphologic variation at Itapocorói Bay – SC, and to identify the development of an erosional hot spot, through the comparison of beach profile data taken before and after the beach nourishment project done by the year of 1999, with the monthly topographic survey obtained at 2008. The results show that the beaches have distinct morphologic behavior due to the increase in the wave energy exposition of the shore. The south portion of the bay is more sheltered, and has flat beach profile slopes (between 2o and 3o) while the northern part, more exposed, shows steeper slopes (5o to 7o) and scarped profiles. Nine years after the nourishment project completed at Pi arras beach, approximately 50% of the sediment volume was lost, especially at the south end next to the river, where there is a well developed hot spot, which shows rates of volume loss of about 95%. The survey also shown that there is no significant alongshore sediment transport to the north, what reinforces the idea that the cross-shore transport has importance at the erosional process. The main objective of this work was to describe the morphologic variation at Itapocorói Bay – SC, and to identify the development of an erosional hot spot, through the comparison of beach profile data taken before and after the beach nourishment project done by the year of 1999, with the monthly topographic survey obtained at 2008. The results show that the beaches have distinct morphologic behavior due to the increase in the wave energy exposition of the shore. The south portion of the bay is more sheltered, and has flat beach profile slopes (between 2o and 3o) while the northern part, more exposed, shows steeper slopes (5o to 7o) and scarped profiles. Nine years after the nourishment project completed at Pi arras beach, approximately 50% of the sediment volume was lost, especially at the south end next to the river, where there is a well developed hot spot, which shows rates of volume loss of about 95%. The survey also shown that there is no significant alongshore sediment transport to the north, what reinforces the idea that the cross-shore transport has importance at the erosional process.