Supervisors info:
Νίκη-Νικολέττα Ευελπίδου, Καθηγήτρια, Γεωλογίας και Γεωπεριβάλλοντος, Εθνικό & Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Summary:
This thesis is specifically concerned with the classification of the coast of the western Naxos Island according to its vulnerability to an anticipated future sea-level rise, using the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) and utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology. This index relates in a semi-quantitative manner the following six physical variables, geomorphology, coastal slope, relative sea-level rise rate, shoreline erosion or accretion rate, mean tidal range and mean wave height, aiming to identify areas that are comparatively more vulnerable to sea level change.
The variable of geomorphology expresses the relative erodibility of various coastal landforms and was derived from detailed field geomorphological mapping. Shoreline erosion or accretion rates were obtained from interpretation of field survey and topographic maps. The slope of the coastal zone was estimated using the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the area derived from topographic maps at the scale of 1:5,000. Bibliographic data were used for the mean tidal range, mean wave height and relative sea level change
The shoreline of the study area was divided into sections, with a length of 20.0 m. The Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) was estimated for each section, as the square root of the values of the ranked variables divided by their total number involved.
According to the produced CVI values (ranking between 5.0 and 32.0), the most vulnerable coastal regions (of high and very high vulnerability) were found along the coastal area of Agios Georgios, Agios Prokopios, Agia Anna, Plaka, Mikri Vigla, Kastraki, Pirgaki and Agiassos. However, it was concluded that steepy rocky coast areas are the least vulnerable sections of understudy shoreline.
Keywords:
Coastal Vulnerability Inditex, Coastal Geomorphology, Erosion, Accretion, Coastline, Naxos Island, Cyclades, Sea Level Rise, Landforms
