Resumen del producto

As coastal areas become increasingly vulnerable to climate change, the study of nearshore sediment textures along the littoral cellof the Medjerda delta in the Gulf of Tunis, southern Mediterranean coast can provide valuable information (i) on the origin(continental or marine) of the sediment, (ii) its transport direction, and (iii) constitutes an important tool in the assessment ofcoastal sensitivity. A total of 120 sediments samples underwent grain size analysis and statistic parameters have been calculated.These allowed the identification of five different Sedimentary Types (ST). Accordingly, using grain size indexes (i.e. Mz, SKIand Ku), Sediment Trend Analysis (STA) modeling tools were applied to define the seasonal sediment transport pathwaysthroughout the nearshore of the Medjerda sedimentary cell. Results show that grain size distribution (GSD) and STA modelpathways are determined by cross-shore geomorphology, location of the sediment-cell, seasonal incident wave and local terrestrialsupply. The appearance in an atypical seabed location of the finer (Mo = 0.1 mm) and the coarser STs (Mo = 0.8 mm) can beindicative of human influence since the coarser particles are usually retained by dam structures. Moreover, the bimodality and theincreased distribution of mud are also related to the seasonal incident wave winnowing of the historic deltaic plain submerged bythe relative rise in sea level. The evolution of the sediment pattern towards a greater proportion of very fine grains indicates adeficit of sediment supply, particularly of the coarser grains, and demonstrates the coastal vulnerability of the Gulf of Tunis due toanthropic effects.

Palabras clave: Grain size distribution; Sedimentary type; Sediment transport analysis; Sensitivity; Medjerda coast; Gulf of Tunis

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