Brazilian Sandy Beaches (Brazilian Marine Biodiversity) 3031307453, 9783031307454

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Brazilian Marine Biodiversity

Antonia Cecilia Zacagnini Amaral Helio Herminio Checon Guilherme Nascimento Corte   Editors

Brazilian Sandy Beaches

Brazilian Marine Biodiversity Series Editor Alexander Turra, Unesco Chair for Ocean Sustainability, Oceanographic Institute and Advanced Studies Institute, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

The book series Brazilian Marine Biodiversity was designed to communicate to a broad and international readership the diversified marine and coastal habitats along the large Brazilian coast. The diversity of marine habitats found in Brazil is astonishing and includes estuaries, coral reefs, rocky shores, sandy beaches, rhodolith beds, mangroves, salt marshes, deep-sea habitats, vegetated bottoms, and continental shelf. These habitats are addressed from an ecosystem perspective across the series, and characterized in terms of distribution and peculiarities along the Brazilian coast, records of relevant species, and information on the prevailing structuring ecological and oceanographic processes governing biodiversity. This series is an initiative of the UNESCO Chair for Ocean Sustainability, hosted by the Oceanographic Institute and the Advanced Studies Institute of the University of São Paulo, within the Brazilian Network for Monitoring Coastal Benthic Habitats (ReBentos; rebentos.org), which is supported by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), the Research Program on Biodiversity Characterization, Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use of the São Paulo Research Foundation (BIOTA-FAPESP), the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) and the Brazilian Innovation Agency (FINEP). ReBentos is part of the Brazilian Network on Global Climate Change Research (Rede Clima) and the Science and Technology National Institute on Climate Changes (INCT Mudanças Climáticas) at the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI).

Antonia Cecilia Zacagnini Amaral Helio Herminio Checon Guilherme Nascimento Corte Editors

Brazilian Sandy Beaches

Editors Antonia Cecilia Zacagnini Amaral Departamento de Biologia Animal Instituto de Biologia Universidade Estadual de Campinas, IB/UNICAMP Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

Helio Herminio Checon Departamento de Oceanografia Biológica Instituto Oceanográfico da Universidade de São Paulo São Paulo, SP, Brazil

Guilherme Nascimento Corte College of Science and Mathematics University of Virgin Islands Saint Thomas, USVI, USA

ISSN 2520-1077     ISSN 2520-1085 (electronic) Brazilian Marine Biodiversity ISBN 978-3-031-30745-4    ISBN 978-3-031-30746-1 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30746-1 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Paper in this product is recyclable.

Geopolitical division of Brazil and Brazilian states. This map is intended to facilitate the international readership to identify the regions and states within the Brazilian territory cited along the chapters.

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To my family (especially my grandchildren), friends, colleagues and students who have supported me during my career. To my family for all the support and to my friends, the other family life gave me. You are all home to me. And to my love, Beatriz, for all that was and all that will be. To my family, who have always been my support and strength. Especially to my father, Rineu Corte: I know you will always be with me in every wave of the ocean.

In memory of two great Brazilian oceanographers who contributed significantly to a better understanding of our beaches.

Paulo da Cunha Lana (20/04/1956–30/06/2022) Full Professor – Center for Marine Studies, Federal University of Parana

Lauro Julio Calliari (14/08/1951–14/02/2023) Full Professor – Federal University of Rio Grande

Preface

The more than 4000 beaches along the Brazilian coast are one of the country’s main assets. They are distributed along more than 9000 km of coastline, from the equatorial Amazon coast (4°N) to the subtropical beaches of Rio Grande do Sul (34°S), and encompass every beach type, from wide tide-dominated flats in the North to wave-dominated reflective beaches in the Southeast and South. Brazilian sandy beaches harbor endemic and diverse biota and provide numerous goods and services that are essential to human populations such as shellfish harvesting and fishing, coastal infrastructure protection, sites for cultural manifestations, tourism, and recreation activities. Notwithstanding, they are under increasing pressure, trapped between the impacts of climate change and human activities in the terrestrial and marine environments. Contrary to their great geographical extent and importance, knowledge about Brazilian beaches is still limited and insufficient to ensure their sustainable use. Thus far, there is no extensive work on their socio-ecological characteristics, an issue that prevents the necessary acknowledgment of their importance. This book comes to fill this void. Written by an interdisciplinary group of leading researchers from all coastal regions of Brazil, and having the contribution of international experts, it is the first-ever comprehensive work written about Brazil’s sandy beaches addressing their physical, ecological, and social aspects. The information synthesized within this book is organized into ten chapters, which follow a logical order but can also be read independently. Chapter 1 sets the background and shows the predominant physical characteristics of Brazilian beaches, classifying the Brazilian coast into distinct regions according to their geology, sediments, coastal processes, and beach types. The next chapters give an insight into the biodiversity recorded in Brazilian beaches, including algae (Chap. 2), meiofauna (Chap. 3), macrofauna (Chap. 4), and vertebrates (Chap. 5). An overview of the population biology and dynamics of the most studied species on Brazilian sandy shores is found in Chap. 6, while Chap. 7 summarizes the importance of biological interactions to the patterns and functioning of sandy beach ecosystems. Finally, the

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Preface

last three chapters discuss topics related to the social function of beaches as social-­ ecological systems such as the main services and goods provided to human populations (Chap. 8), the influence of natural and anthropic disturbance (Chap. 9), and the challenges to preserve these ecosystems (Chap. 10). Our effort aims to reach university researchers and students, as well as coastal managers and policymakers. Nevertheless, the information included in this book is accessible to anyone who wants to know more about Brazilian coastal biodiversity and ecosystems. We trust that this book will provide insights for further investigations and represent a significant step towards the conservation of Brazilian sandy beaches, their biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Campinas, SP, Brazil  

Guilherme Nascimento Corte Helio Herminio Checon Antonia Cecilia Zacagnini Amaral

Acknowledgements

We are greatly indebted to all authors that contributed to this book. This work was only possible due to their expertise and wiliness to share the best knowledge on the Brazilian sandy beaches. We also thank Prof. Alexander Turra for the research initiative that led to the funding of the ReBentos, the network which allowed for the accomplishment of this book. We would also like to thank Beatriz Pereira Cunha – aka Bia – for editing all the pictures in this book. We acknowledge the support of Brazilian universities and research agencies, including federal (CNPq and CAPES), state (FAPs), and private agencies (Fundação Grupo Boticário). Finally, a big ‘thank you’ is also due to the students, technicians, and academic colleagues in Brazil and abroad investigating sandy shores. Their effort is the foundation wall that supports the understanding and preservation of beach ecosystems.

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Contents

1

 Physical Characteristics of Brazilian Sandy Beaches��������������������������    1 Antonio Henrique da Fontoura Klein and Andrew D. Short

2

Primary Producers����������������������������������������������������������������������������������   31 Clarisse Odebrecht, Andrea de Oliveira da Rocha Franco, Paulo Horta, and Leonardo Rubi Rörig

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Meiofauna Biodiversity���������������������������������������������������������������������������   57 Tatiana Maria, André Esteves, André Garraffoni, Fabiane Gallucci, Adriane Pereira Wandeness, Beatriz Pereira Cunha, Gustavo Fonseca, Sergio Netto, and Maikon Di Domenico

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Benthic Invertebrate Macrofauna����������������������������������������������������������   91 Guilherme Nascimento Corte and Antonia Cecilia Zacagnini Amaral

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Vertebrate Biodiversity����������������������������������������������������������������������������  127 Yasmina Shah Esmaeili, Bruna Pagliani, Robson Henrique de Carvalho, and Leonardo Lopes Costa

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Population Biology ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������  159 Marcelo Petracco, Guilherme Nascimento Corte, Daiane Aviz, Rayane Romão Saad Abude, Matheus Augusto, Carlos Henrique Soares Caetano, Ricardo Silva Cardoso, and Tatiana Medeiros Barbosa Cabrini

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Biological Interactions ����������������������������������������������������������������������������  199 Cristina de Almeida Rocha-Barreira and José Souto Rosa-Filho

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Ecosystem Services����������������������������������������������������������������������������������  223 Helio Herminio Checon, Luciana Yokoyama Xavier, and Leandra Regina Gonçalves

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Contents

Threats and Impacts��������������������������������������������������������������������������������  257 Abílio Soares-Gomes, Ilana R. Zalmon, Phillipe Mota Machado, and Leonardo Lopes Costa

10 Beach  Management and Conservation in Brazil: Challenges and Opportunities������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  291 Luciana Yokoyama Xavier, Leandra Regina Gonçalves, Mayara Oliveira, Marina Ribeiro Corrêa, Nicole Malinconico, Marcus Polette, and Alexander Turra Index������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  327

About the Editors About the Editors

Antonia Cecilia Zacagnini Amaral is a Full Professor in the Biology Institute at the State University of Campinas, Brazil, which she joined in 1980. Her research focuses on marine benthic ecology and biodiversity, and she is a world expert in the taxonomy and ecology of annelids (polychaetes). Cecília actively participated in the development of Zoology in Brazil, and coordinated several multi-institutional projects such as the Assessment of the Sustainable Potential of Living Resources of the Brazilian Exclusive Economic Zone  – REVIZEE/Score-Sul-Bentos; Biodiversity and Functioning of a Subtropical Coastal Ecosystem: Subsidies for Integrated Management  – BIOTA/FAPESP; Biodiversity of Sandy Beaches (PROBIO); and Endangered Species of Brazilian Fauna – Aquatic Invertebrates (IBAMA, MMA, SISBIO/ICMBio). She currently coordinates the project Consolidation of Scientific Collections of Marine Invertebrates: Strategies for Biodiversity Conservation  – BIOTA/FAPESP. Helio  Herminio  Checon holds a Ph.D. in Ecology from the State University of Campinas and is currently a research collaborator at the State University of Campinas and an employee for the Secretariat of Green, Environment and Sustainable Development of the municipality of Campinas, where he works with the management of protected areas. During his career, he worked with different marine environments and benthic organisms, assessing how environmental variability affects benthic fauna. On sandy beaches, the best marine environment (sorry, mangroves), his work supports the management of coastal protected areas, especially for monitoring and evaluating environmental integrity.

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About the Editors

Guilherme Nascimento Corte holds a PhD in Ecology from the State University of Campinas (Brazil, 2016) and is currently a Professor of Biology in the College of Science and Mathematics at the University of Virgin Islands, United States Virgin Islands, USA.  As a marine ecologist, he has worked on the coasts of North and South America, the Caribbean, and Australia. Guilherme has studied several marine habitats such as mangroves, rocky shores, and open ocean; however, most of his research focuses on the biodiversity and functioning of sandy beach ecosystems. He has helped develop protocols to monitor these environments worldwide and can no longer differentiate between work and leisure when he is on a sandy beach.

Contributors

Rayane  Romão  Saad  Abude  Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Antonia Cecilia Zacagnini Amaral  Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil Matheus  Augusto  Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Daiane Aviz  Faculdade de Oceanografia, Instituto de Geociências, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belem, PA, Brazil Tatiana  Medeiros  Barbosa  Cabrini  Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Carlos Henrique Soares Caetano  Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Ricardo Silva Cardoso  Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Helio Herminio Checon  Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil Marina Ribeiro Corrêa  Instituto de Energia e Ambiente da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Guilherme Nascimento Corte  College of Science and Mathematics, University of Virgin Islands, Saint Thomas, USVI, USA Leonardo  Lopes  Costa  Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil Beatriz  Pereira  Cunha  Instituto de Biologia, Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil

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Contributors

Antonio  Henrique  da Fontoura  Klein  Federal University of Santa Catarina, Campus Trindade, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil Cristina de Almeida Rocha-Barreira  Universidade Federal do Ceará, Instituto de Ciências do Mar, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil Robson  Henrique  de Carvalho  Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil Andrea  de Oliveira  da  Rocha  Franco  Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Instituto de Oceanografia, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil Maikon Di Domenico  Centro de Estudos do Mar, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Pontal do Sul, PR, Brazil Yasmina Shah Esmaeili  Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil André Esteves  Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil Gustavo  Fonseca  Instituto do Mar, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Santos, SP, Brazil Fabiane  Gallucci  Instituto do Mar, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Santos, SP, Brazil André  Garraffoni  Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil Leandra  Regina  Gonçalves  Instituto do Mar da Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Santos, SP, Brazil Paulo  Horta  Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Trindade, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil Phillipe Mota Machado  Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Exatas, Naturais e da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Alegre, ES, Brazil Nicole  Malinconico  Instituto Oceanográfico da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Tatiana  Maria  Departamento de Ecologia e Recursos Marinhos, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Sergio Netto  Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina, Tubarão, SC, Brazil Clarisse  Odebrecht  Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Instituto de Oceanografia, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil Mayara Oliveira  University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Contributors

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Bruna  Pagliani  Instituto de Biodiversidade e Sustentabilidade  – NUPEM, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Macae, RJ, Brazil Marcelo  Petracco  Faculdade de Oceanografia, Instituto de Geociências, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belem, PA, Brazil Marcus Polette  Universidade do Vale do Itajaí, Itajaí, SC, Brazil Leonardo Rubi Rörig  Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Trindade, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil José  Souto  Rosa-Filho  Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Centro de Tecnologia, Departamento de Oceanografia, Recife, PE, Brazil Andrew  D.  Short  School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia Abílio Soares-Gomes  Departamento de Biologia Marinha, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, RJ, Brazil Alexander  Turra  Instituto Oceanográfico da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Adriane Pereira Wandeness  Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil Luciana  Yokoyama  Xavier  Instituto Oceanográfico da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Ilana  Rosental  Zalmon  Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil

Chapter 1

Physical Characteristics of Brazilian Sandy Beaches Antonio Henrique da Fontoura Klein and Andrew D. Short

1.1 Introduction The east coast of South America, including all of Brazil, is a classic trailing edge coast typified by numerous long meandering rivers, generally low gradient regressive coastal plains, an abundance of mature quartz sediment, and extensive beach-­ barrier systems, the antithesis of the rugged collision margin of the mountainous west coast. The Amazon, the world’s largest river in terms of length, discharge, and its associated sediment supply, dominates the northern 1500 km of coast, maintaining a predominately mangrove-fringed mud-dominated shore, with scattered sandy beaches. South of the Amazon, however, sandy beaches increasingly dominate the shore with more than 4000 beaches comprising 2% (82,778 ha) of all coastal ecosystems in the country (Muehe 2003; Short and Klein 2016). The remaining coast is occupied by rocky shores, inlets, and, in sheltered locations, mangroves, as well as salt-marsh south of 27°S. The entire coast extends over 38° of latitude, from 4°N to 34°S, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. Coastal quartz-rich sediment has been derived from the Amazon River in the north and La Plata River in the south, discharging between Uruguay and Argentina, together with several moderate-sized rivers in between. This sediment has been deposited on the shelf at low sea levels and reworked onshore and longshore during the postglacial sea-level transgression, together with sediment supplied directly to the coast since the sea-level standstill. The abundance of sand has allowed the formation of thousands of beaches, including some of the longest beach and barrier systems in the world, together with A. H. F. Klein (*) Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Campus Universitário – Trindade, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil e-mail: [email protected] A. D. Short School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 A. C. Z. Amaral et al. (eds.), Brazilian Sandy Beaches, Brazilian Marine Biodiversity, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30746-1_1

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A. H. F. Klein and A. D. Short

extensive transgressive dune systems (Dillenburg and Hesp 2009). The considerable range in wave and tide energy maintains the full range of beach types and states along the open coast. In the north, the beaches are generally tide-dominated to tide-­ modified, while along the east coast, they range from tide-modified in the northeast to wave-dominated along with the central and southern sectors, with tide-dominated beaches predominating in sheltered bays and estuaries (Short and Klein 2016). The beaches span tropical to subtropical latitudes, and in the northeast, they are in places sheltered and modified by coral and beach rock reefs, which induce the formation of lower energy crenulate beaches in their lee. Also, in the north and east, the Barreiras Formation outcrops along sections of the coast, forming eroding cliffs that supply sediment directly to the beaches, while in the south, particularly between Cabo Frio (RJ) and Cabo de Santa Marta (SC), numerous igneous bedrock headlands result in many embayed and pocket beach systems. This chapter is a summary of Brazilian beach systems (Short and Klein 2016), where the main highlight of Brazilian beaches are present.

1.2 Coastal Processes Brazilian coastal processes are related to its latitudinal location and the associated tropical though temperate climate systems, particularly those that reside over the equatorial and South Atlantic (Rodrígues et al. 2016). In the north, the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), which while residing over the equator, shifts seasonally and influences the region between 30°N and 30°S.  Trade winds converge on the ITCZ, and during the southern hemisphere summer, when it moves to 14°N, it delivers southeast trades along the coast between the state of Amapá and as far south as the state of Santa Catarina, while during the southern hemisphere winter, it shifts to a maximum of 5–6°S, delivering northeast trades and heavy rainfall along the coast between the states of Amapá and Rio Grande do Norte. Much of the coast is exposed to easterly trade winds and east through southerly seas and swell, which combined provide considerable energy to transport sediment and construct a wide range of beach, barrier, inlet, and deltaic forms. Wave energy ranges from low to moderate along the tide-dominated Amapá and Pará coasts, where considerable wave attenuation takes place across the shallow inshore, to moderate along the states of Maranhão, Ceará, and northern Rio Grande do Norte coast. The trade winds generate low to moderate seas, with waves usually between 1 and 2 m and period 7 and 13 s. South of the Cabo Frio municipality (RJ), the wave climate is dominated by subpolar lows that regularly cross the South Atlantic (40–60°S), generating moderate to occasionally high southerly swell. Waves can range from 1–4 m and periods from 10 to 16 s. Figure 1.1 illustrates the mean significant wave height (Hs) along the entire coast. The waves drive predominately northerly longshore sand transport, which has been calculated to reach one million m3yr−1 in some southern locations (Motta and Toldo Jr 2013), together with some local and seasonal reversals in sediment transport.

1  Physical Characteristics of Brazilian Sandy Beaches

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Fig. 1.1  Annual mean significant wave height (Hs) and (right) maximum tide range (m) along the Brazilian coast between French Guinea and Uruguay. (Source: Rodrígues et al. 2016)

Tides along the coast peak in the mouth of the Amazon, where they reach 11 m near Ilha do Maracá, the highest in Brazil. Tidal currents are significant along the north coast with the flood tides trending to the west reinforcing the easterly wind and wave-driven currents and the strong North Brazil current. The tide range decreases northward to 4 m along the northern Amapá coast. It also decreases to the east averaging 4–6 m along the Pará-Maranhão coast, then gradually decreasing to 3–4 m along Piauí and Ceará coast, and 2.5–3 m from Rio Grande do Norte down to Bahia. In the state of Espírito Santo, tides decrease to micro (0.8–1.9  m) and remain 1 m or less all down the southeast coast, with the smallest tides (0.5 m) along the coast of Rio Grande do Sul (Fig. 1.1). South from the state of Rio de Janeiro, storm surges up to 1.0 m high also contribute to coastal processes. Winds are related to the regional pressure systems and are seasonally northeast and southeast along the Amapá-Pará coast, while southeast trades dominate the entire northeast coast in summer, extending as far south as northern Santa Catarina, with northerly winds dominating south of Santa Catarina Island. Winter brings periodic cold fronts, strong southerly winds, and frontal rain along the southeast coast usually reaching as far north as Sergipe. In all regions from Pará to the south, the winds move beach sand inland to develop in places extensive transgressive dune systems.

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1.3 Beach Types and States Beaches are accumulations of wave-deposited sediment (sand to boulders) at the shoreline usually in a tidal environment. As such, wave height and period, tide range, and sediment size are the key parameters in determining the nature of the beach, and based on these, all beaches can be classified by their type and state. This section briefly reviews the range of beach types and states that occur globally and along the Brazilian coast, based on the detailed description of Short and Klein (2016). Beach type is based on the relative contribution of both waves and tides and is quantified using the relative tide range (RTR) (Masselink and Short 1993):

RTR = TR / H b

where TR = mean spring tide range (m) and Hb = breaker wave height (m). When waves are relatively high, tide low, and RTR