Erosion event at Mismaloya Beach, Jalisco, Mexico

Abstract

A study was carried out to determine the causes of the sudden disappearance of Mismaloya Beach, Jalisco (Mexico), in the early hours of 8 September 2001. This event occurred in a few hours, leaving behind a 2-m-high beach scarp as well as restaurants and palapas flooded by the ocean. Bathymetric and beach profiles were done to know the morphology and evolution of the coastal zone, and the bathymetry and eroded sediment volumes were obtained. Analyses were made of the coastal profile slopes, the physical characteristics of the sediments and the zone hydrodynamics. The event was caused by a slump of the sediments that lay over very steep slopes of the coastal profile (up to 18º), as a consequence of the weight and tixotrophic properties of the sediments.

Keywords

• beaches
• erosion
• Mismaloya
• landslides