Work

Morphometric classification of swell-dominated embayed beaches along the Moroccan coastline using the γe parameter

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Embayed beaches are types of coastal systems whose shoreline shape is conditioned by interaction between geological structures and waves. Even though these were widely studied in various coastal settings, few works exist concerning the morphometric properties of embayed beaches along African coasts. This research provides the first morphometric classification of embayed beaches along the Moroccan coast, based on the parameter γe introduced by Fellowes et al. (2019) . A set of 55 embayed beaches along Mediterranean and Atlantic sectors was identified using high-resolution remote sensing images. Morphometric parameters of these beaches were computed to estimate the values of γe and the Platform Index (I), after which an unsupervised classification into classes of embayments using K-means was performed. Regional differences in offshore wave conditions were evaluated using the CMEMS dataset. The analysis determined that the variety of morphometric types observed along the Moroccan coast is large (γe values range from 0.41 to 1.63). Statistical processing showed that there were no significant differences in most geometrical characteristics between the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, except for the wave shadow effect (Xsh), which is significantly different ( p = 0.048, r = 0.31). The strong correlation ( r = 0.94) between γe and the Platform Index (I) confirmed the consistency of morphometric parameters, while the clustering approach identified four classes of embayed beaches. Spatial analysis highlighted geological structure and wave exposure in controlling morphological forms. Overall, this work reveals that embayed beaches of the Moroccan coast feature morphometric patterns typical of global embayment systems, but also specific to the region.

Source: Geomorphology

DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2026.110513