Consequences of anthropic activity in Mar del Tuyú partido de La Costa, Buenos Aires, Argentine

The main cause for the deterioration of coastline of Buenos Aires province, is the rapid growth of tourist centers and the lack of environmental criteria for their development.Human activities in Mar del Tuyú have altered the aero and hydrodynamic conditions. Urban development causes destruction of coastal dune fields and degradation of foredunes, interrupting the aerial exchange of sand between coastal and continental areas. Regarding hydrodynamics, removal of sand from beaches constitutes the biggest damage to the dynamic sedimentary balance. During the rainy season, high transport capacity currents, which are generated in perpendicular to the shoreline sloping streets, are responsible for eroding beach sediments. Fishing piers construction and inadequate coastal defenses also destabilize the dynamic balance of beaches by interfering littoral drift.The human activities responsible for the modification of natural conditions in shorelines by enhancing erosion processes are predominant in densely urbanized areas. The trend of shoreline displacement over the last fifty years points to a relationship between anthropic factors and shoreline erosion.The urban distribution, coastal structures, activities and uses present in the Mar del Tuyú locality provide an appropriate model to determine causes and consequences, both present and future, of loss in coastal dynamics balance, and to establish basic criteria for the development of coastal management plans.

► Causes of erosion are related to construction and urban planning and coast usage.
► Problems arising from shoreline displacement and beach erosion can be structural or touristic.
► Criteria must be established prior to development to minimize impact and make rational use of resources.
► Determining the causes of erosion and the mechanisms behind them allows setting criteria to help mitigate erosive processes.