Coastal Morphology and Long-Term Shoreline Changes along the Southwest Coast of India

Authors

  • L. Sheela Nair
     National Centre for Earth Science Studies, Akkulam, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 011
  • R. Prasad
     National Centre for Earth Science Studies, Akkulam, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 011
  • M. K. Rafeeque
     National Centre for Earth Science Studies, Akkulam, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 011
  • T. N. Prakash
     National Centre for Earth Science Studies, Akkulam, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 011

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-018-1072-x

Abstract

The part of southwest coast of India extending from Poovar in the south to Kasaragod in the north is considered as one of the highly dynamic coastal areas of Indian peninsula. Over the years due to rapid urbanization as well as other natural and anthropogenic activities, the coast is under severe pressure which in turn has reduced the percentage status of healthy / stable coast. Unscientific shoreline protection methods adopted without conducting appropriate studies to assess the suitability of the said method to a particular coastal stretch has often led to negative impacts. As a result, many areas that were once stable have turned eroding and in certain cases, the observed extent of erosion is severe warranting immediate protection measures. In this context, a study was carried out to assess the long-term shoreline changes along the southwest coast and to decipher the causative factors responsible for these changes. Accordingly, a 46 year period from 1968 to 2014 was studied using multi-dated shoreline images and Survey of India (SOI) topographic charts. The DSAS software (USGS) is used to compute the rate of shoreline changes along different sectors of the coast and accordingly the entire coastal stretch is classified into 7 classes depicting the present status (stable / dynamically stable / unstable) of the coast. The analysis revealed that almost 60 % of the coastline is eroding with about 29 % showing an accreting trend.

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Issue

Volume 92, Issue 5, November 2018 Pages (511-650)

Section

Special Issue on Western Ghats: Evolution and Environmental Issues

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Published

2018-11-01

How to Cite

Sheela Nair, L., Prasad, R., Rafeeque, M. K., & Prakash, T. N. (2018). Coastal Morphology and Long-Term Shoreline Changes along the Southwest Coast of India. Journal of Geological Society of India, 92(5), 588–595. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-018-1072-x
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