Relação praia-falésia de São Cristóvão, Ponta do Mel - Areia Branca (Litoral Setentrional) e Cacimbinha - Tibau do Sul (Litoral Oriental), RN - Brasil

Abstract

The oceanic beaches are characterized as transitional environments between land and ocean, being able to protect the continent. Taking into consideration the importance of these environmental systems and the coastal studies of a state as Rio Grande do Norte, which presents several beaches tending to erosion and urban growth, the present work aims to demonstrate how the dynamics of the beach-cliff system of beach fragments from the northern coast (São Cristóvão beach and Ponta do Mel beach) and from the eastern (Cacimbinha beach) of Rio Grande do Norte. The research included bibliographical and iconographic surveys; topographic, hydrodynamic and sedimentological data; sedimentological analysis in laboratory, correction of maps, analysis and correlation of acquired data. The results have indicated that: the beaches from the study have erosive potential, but some fragments presented accumulation of sediments; the cliffs of the fragments of the northern coast presented greater resistance to the water erosion conditions, produced in the laboratory, however these features have more erosive processes installed due to the climatic dynamics of the semiarid; the forms of accumulation molded between the cliffs and the beaches are different related to the littoral studied, and the beaches of the northern coast are conducive to the formation of frontal dunes, while on the eastern coast terraces are formed. Thus, it is understood that the studies aimed at compartmentalization of the relief, survey of the surface, structure and physiology of the landscape have contributed to the knowledge of geodiversity, helping the delimitation and understanding of geomorphostites from a geomorphological point of view. Therefore, the present work has allowed us to understand how beach dynamics occur related to erosion and deposition processes, as well as to consider the potential of the coastal segments related to the coastal geodiversity of Rio Grande do Norte.