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River Mouths and Coastal Lagoons in Central Chile

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The Ecology and Natural History of Chilean Saltmarshes

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Abstract

River mouths and coastal lagoons in central Chile are some of the most dynamic ecosystems in the country. They are controlled by a great variety of natural and anthropic factors, which have confer these ecosystems a high environmental and human value. The diversity of these ecosystems is mainly due to a complex set of parameters that define them: from the hydrological and climatic variability, the heterogeneity of the river mouths, the high energy of the coasts, to different annual sediment availability, etc. These parameters, as well as meteorological and hydro-morphodynamics, all create a very unique combination, even at a global scale, being similar only to some sectors of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Additionally, the seismic characteristics of Chile commonly cause morphological alterations in coastal areas, and these changes range from subsidence or uplifts to dramatic sedimentary changes caused by tsunamis that hit the central coast every 50–100 years. This uniqueness of the river systems of central Chile, enhances its scientific interest within the international community. Moreover, the predominant dynamics of central Chile are quite different than those traditionally studied in the northern hemisphere.

This chapter presents the general characteristics that govern the geomorphological processes of the central coast of Chile, such as hydrology, climate, prevailing rise, geographic characteristics and impacts caused by the tsunamis. Additionally, a description and classification of some of these phenomena is presented for different basins in Chile, paying attention to some particular cases used as examples for the description of the coastal processes that govern coastal morphodynamics. Finally, it is concluded that the coastal formations in central Chile are strongly controlled by hydrology and typology of their river mouths, with emphasis on the size of the basin, as well as on the seasonal precipitations. These last two variables are fundamental in explaining and characterizing the coastal geomorphology of central Chile.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The 1st región, in 1987, was considering the actual I and XV Regions. On the other hand, the Region X was considering the actual regions X and XIV. This is also valid for the Figure 2.4.

    Fig. 2.4
    figure 4

    Main rivers and watersheds in Chile (Taken from Niemeyer and Cereceda 1984)

    Full size image
  2. 2.

    http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2010/us2010tfan/

  3. 3.

    http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2010/us2010tfan/finite_fault.php

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering (Departamento de Ingeniería Hidráulica y Ambiental, Escuela de Ingeniería), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Rodrigo Cienfuegos, José Rafael Campino, Jorge Gironás & Mauricio Villagrán

  2. Centro de Investigación para la Gestión Integrada del Riesgo de Desastres (CIGIDEN - Fondap 15110017), Santiago, Chile

    Rodrigo Cienfuegos, José Rafael Campino & Jorge Gironás

  3. UMR LEGOS, University of Toulouse/CNRS/IRD/CNES, Toulouse, France

    Rafael Almar

  4. Departamento de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Concepción, Chile

    Mauricio Villagrán

Authors
  1. Rodrigo Cienfuegos
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  2. José Rafael Campino
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  3. Jorge Gironás
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  4. Rafael Almar
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  5. Mauricio Villagrán
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rodrigo Cienfuegos .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability-CAPES, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    José Miguel Fariña

  2. Camaño, Andres (editor) Golder Associate, ERM, Santiago, Chile

    Andrés Camaño

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Cienfuegos, R., Campino, J.R., Gironás, J., Almar, R., Villagrán, M. (2017). River Mouths and Coastal Lagoons in Central Chile. In: Fariña, J., Camaño, A. (eds) The Ecology and Natural History of Chilean Saltmarshes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63877-5_2

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