Morpho-sedimentary dynamics of a high-energy Atlantic beach: Insights from repeated topographic surveys in El Jadida Bay (Morocco)

Knowledge of coastal morphological processes is imperative in successful management of shorelines, especially in regions that are affected by both natural forces and human efforts. This research will examine how the El Jadida Bay (Morocco) morpho-sedimentary changes during a three-year period (2021–2024) as a fill to a research gap to enhance the current knowledge of short term coastal behavior. The topographic data were collected as high resolution data in four field survey based on the Global Positioning System Real Time Kinematic (GPS-RTK) measurements, where Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) were made. Spatial studies of these DTMs showed that there was a lot of morphological variation, whereby there are boom and boom erosion zones. There was an overall tendency towards the accumulation of sediments in upper beach sectors and local tides were in the form of erosion in intertidal regions. It was observed, especially after the March 2024 storm, how powerful the extreme meteorological conditions are to redistribute the sediment across the bay. On the whole, the findings support that combined topographic surveillance coupled with geostatistical modeling is an effective method to identify and quantify short term morphological variations. The research will be useful in the management and resilience of the sensitive coastal environment of the El Jadida shoreline by offering insight into the short-term dynamics of coastal processes that determine the shoreline.