Origin, evolution and processes controlling Holocene barrier-lagoon systems (NW Spain)

Abstract

The study of transitional environments, like barrier-lagoon systems, requires a multi approach analysis from different time scales to get a complete picture. In this thesis different time scales and different methodologies have been adopted and leaded to the conclusion that the evolution of the barrier-lagoon systems along the Atlantic Galician coast is determined by the interaction of four principal factors: topographic inheritance, sea-level, sediment supply and climate, in particular storminess regime. However, the load of each factor may change depending on the temporal scale of the analyzed processes. In an annual and multidecadal time-scale, storm regimes and sediment supply are the major forcers of change, but as we increase the temporal scale of analysis sea-level turns to dictate the evolution of the systems. Conversely, the topographic inheritance appears as a factor that passively controls the onset and subsequent response of coastal systems.