Large scale evolution of the littoral of the Rhone delta (Southeast France)

Serge S. Suanez (1) , Mireille Provansal (1)

1 CAGEP - Centre Aixois de Géographie Physique

A study of changes to the Rhone delta littoral at the mouth of the Rhone delta was made using diachronic analysis of aerial photographs and satellite images. The evolution of the coastline shows that the littoral has been programing over the last fifty years. The evolution by different sectors shows that the sectors located to the east of the mouth of the Rhone have prograded while the western part has eroded. The whole of the littoral is being displaced towards the east because of the action of littoral drift currents, oriented west-east, and the western waves.

Mots clés: coastal evolution; aerial photointerpretation; image analysis; coastal erosion; deltaic environments

Domaines: Géomorphologie

Serge S. Suanez, Mireille Provansal. Large scale evolution of the littoral of the Rhone delta (Southeast France). Journal of Coastal Research, 1998, 14 (2), pp.493-501. ⟨hal-00637321⟩