INNDAGA is a multipurpose platform for conducting oceanographic surveys in coastal areas developed on an 8.5 m long inflatable boat. This concept allows the vessel to operate safely and with great manoeuvring flexibility in areas where larger research vessels cannot access (rocky areas, port ...) at low operational cost. Is fully integrated in an information management system to providing efficiency and effectiveness of strategic decision making.

XRF scanners allow fast, high-resolution delivery of geochemical and physical property data from sediment cores. However, lack of standardized protocols for measuring parameter settings can lead to results of inferior quality to the instrument's real potential, particularly regarding light elements. In this study, a sediment core from a mud volcano in the Alboran Sea (off SE Spain) with very heterogeneous sedimentological character was analyzed using an Itrax T Core Scanner (ITRAX). This study assesses some of the factors that influence measurements: type of anode used, X-ray exposure time, and effects resulting from the sample's exposure to room temperature during analysis as well as those caused by refrigerated storage. Quality and accuracy of the ITRAX data was evaluated by comparison with quantitative measurements obtained by conventional XRF and ICP-OES on discrete samples. The results obtained suggest 20 s is an optimal exposure time as this gives good quality results for the majority of elements analyzed, including light elements and trace elements (e.g. Al (1.9-6.6 %), Cr (84-161 mu g g(-1)), Ni (35-62.5 mu g g(-1))). Additionally, this analysis time is not significantly detrimental to core condition. The ITRAX capacity to identify diagenetic and authigenic processes in this type of geochemical environment is also demonstrated.

The Chubut River flows from the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean, and is interrupted by a single dam built at the middle valley. The lower valley is dominated by the aggradation of an alluvial plain induced by a complex of spits that enclosed the inlet in the last 5000 years. The river has reduced its flow because the blocking of the upper basin by terminal moraines during the Upper Pleistocene. At least the last two marine transgressions have flooded this estuary, and contributed to the aggradation during regressions. The area is of particular interest in regard to irrigation channels practiced since the XIX century. Today, the mean monthly flow is less than 10 m(3)/s although peaks of 95 m(3)/s have been recorded in Gaiman in July 2001. The dynamics of the estuary is dominated by waves (wave-dominated estuary) as tidal effects attenuate in less than 5 km. Three vibracores were collected within this floodplain: (a) at Gaiman, an area without any effect of the sea (35 km from the coast); (b) at Trelew, at the former avulsion plain of the river (18 km from the coast); and (c) at Playa Magagna, a saltmarsh located 0.4 km from the beach.(a) At the Gaiman core (1.54 m long) fresh-water epiphytic diatoms dominate (Epithemia sorex, Cocconeis placentula, Ulnaria ulna) suggesting the aggradation of an alluvial plain.(b) The Trelew core (2.19 m long) was collected from a deltaic plain. It was composed by fine sand with organic matter at the base that evolved into silty layers to the top. Several unconformities and laminae with heavy minerals were detected by their geochemical composition analysed by micro X-ray fluorescence (Itrax XRF core scanner). Fine-sand laminated layers were perfectly detected by their high content in S and Cl. On the other hand, mud layers presented lower content in Mg and Al with increments in Ca and V.(c) The core from the marsh area (1.67 m long) was analysed in terms of the diatom evolution in order to detect Holocene sea-level and salinity effects. The sand flats from the bottom of the core were dominated by Nitzchia navicularis (mesohalobous and benthic taxa) and evolved into mixed flats, mudflats and marshes to the top. Sharp contacts have been detected between these facies, with wavy and lenticular bedding characterising the mixed flat deposits. The middle of the sequence is dominated by a coastal marine diatom (Paralia sulcata) while the top was dominated by Pinnularia borealis, an aerophilous and brackish/freshwater taxa. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The continental shelf of NW Iberia is of particular interest due to the complex North Atlantic rifting tectonics and modern oceanographic processes that led to its current geomorphological configuration and sediment dynamics. The shelf forms a narrow slow-dipping north-bearing geomorphological structure with a well-defined shelf break located at water depths of 160-180 m. It is a continental margin with sedimentation rates of about 1.5 +/- 2.0 mm a(-1) (the highest values in recent bottom sediments of the ria) subjected to a highly energetic seasonal regime of waves and tides, seasonal upwelling and coast-parallel currents, significantly modulated by the North Atlantic Oscillation. Sediment provenance is dominated by inputs of continental sediments via runoff and riverine discharges and, to a lesser extent, by an upwelling-enhanced bioclastic input. Present-day sedimentation in the area occurs closely associated with two geomorphologically distinct sedimentary environments: the rias inner shelf sedimentary systems and the open continental shelf, and their subsequent evolution since the last glacial.

Abstract The continental shelf of NW Iberia is of particular interest due to the complex North Atlantic rifting tectonics and modern oceanographic processes that led to its current geomorphological configuration and sediment dynamics. The shelf forms a narrow slow-dipping north-bearing geomorphological structure with a well-defined shelf break located at water depths of 160–180 m. It is a continental margin with sedimentation rates of about 1.5±2.0 mm a−1 (the highest values in recent bottom sediments of the ría) subjected to a highly energetic seasonal regime of waves and tides, seasonal upwelling and coast-parallel currents, significantly modulated by the North Atlantic Oscillation. Sediment provenance is dominated by inputs of continental sediments via runoff and riverine discharges and, to a lesser extent, by an upwelling-enhanced bioclastic input. Present-day sedimentation in the area occurs closely associated with two geomorphologically distinct sedimentary environments: the rías inner shelf sedimentary systems and the open continental shelf, and their subsequent evolution since the last glacial.

Beaches are an important consideration in coastal management. Morphodynamic classification of sandy beaches is used for open-ocean, wave-dominated environments, but fails to describe the shape of natural sandy beaches located in low-energy environments. An important consequence of this is that these environments are excluded from current morphodynamic models, making the design of efficient coastal management plans difficult to achieve.Many of these types of beaches occur in quick succession along the coastline in protected environments such as estuaries, lagoons, fjords and rias, which are favourite sites for human settlements. These particular environments are of enormous economic importance and constitute the zones of greatest human impact on the coast. Correct management requires a good understanding of the physical factors that affect each type of beach and of the interactions between such factors.Fifteen beaches in the Ria de Vigo (NW Spain) were studied in order to determine how the gradational changes from oceanic to estuarine conditions affect the beach morphology and intertidal sediments. The balance between wave action and sedimentary supply was found to be the controlling factor in the ria. The results of this study provide useful information about a coastal ria environment, which will enable better design of a suitable integrated coastal plan for management of Has. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fernandez-Fernandez, S., Bernabeu, A.M., Bouchette, F., Rey D. and Vilas F., 2011. Beach morphodynamic influence on long-term oil pollution: The Prestige oil spill. Journal of Coastal Research, SI 64 (Proceedings of the 11th International Coastal Symposium), 890 - 893. Szczecin, Poland, ISSN 0749-0208 The sinking of the Prestige tanker (November, 2002) spilled over 64000 tons of heavy fuel oil. The Prestige oil spill (POS) affected approximately 1000 km of coast belonging to Portugal, France and Spain and more than 600 sandy beaches were polluted along the Atlantic coast of Spain. Since POS, yearly surveys of two oiled sandy beaches (Galicia, NW Spain) have provided evidences regarding the oil pollution behavior and the influence of beach morphodynamics on the dynamics of the contamination. The analysis of wave climate, the extracted suction cores and the detected oil from 2004 and 2009 fieldworks have allowed to promote a conceptual model of the influence of beach morphodynamics on the first steps of an oil spill and to establish the effects on the long-term oil pollution.

Transitional coastal environments such as the Galician Rias in the Atlantic coast of NW Spain are densely populated areas. Their environmental problems are highlighted by the conflicting interests of different economic sectors: extensive mariculture activities are located in its waters and intertidal zone; shipbuilding, carbuilding, canning and other industries compete with tourism on their shores; and dairy farming is the main agricultural activity in its surrounding hills and hinterland (Vilas et al., 2008). As a result, the management of the coastal zone is highly complex and it is difficult to balance quality of coastal waters with economic activities. For instance, in the Ria de Vigo, the southernmost of the Rias Baixas, wastewater treatment plants were not installed until the 1990s, and in spite of regional environmental legislation (Lei 8/2001), their capacity was still insufficient in 2005 when the European Court of Justice found Spain guilty of failure to fulfill its obligations under the Article 5 of the Council Directive 79/923/EEC on the quality required for shellfish waters (Case C-26/04 ECJ). This case was closed following Spain's submission of a pollution-reducing programme specifically pertinent to shellfish waters; success of this plan will depend critically on the behaviour of the sediments on the ria bottom. Galician Rias experience seasonal upwelling, which increases marine productivity. This promotes the deposition of high organic matter contents in the bottom sediments and contributes to the observed intense sedimentation rates of 1-6 mm yr-1 (Alvarez-Iglesias et al., 2007; Rubio et al., 2001). Current levels of trace metals (Prego & Cobelo, 2003) in sediments of these Rias have caused a significant concern by local and European authorities in the last ten years, especially in relation to the application of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), aimed to ensure that all waters reach “good status” by 2015. Some of these studies (Alvarez-Iglesias et al., 2003; Belzunce-Segarra et al., 2008; Rubio et al., 2000a) showed that the highest concentration of trace metals occurs in the muddiest surficial

The Ria de Muros is the northernmost of the 4 Rias Baixas and, like the others, is subject to seasonal upwelling. The high organic carbon content of its sediments (average 2.4%) is due to the consequent high primary production together with significant continental input from river discharge and runoff. This high organic carbon content not only favours early diagenesis, but does so to an extent that depends on the relative proportions of labile marine organic carbon and refractory terrestrial organic carbon. Thus, changes in early diagenesis reflected in the mineralogy and/or composition of the Ria's sediments can throw light on the degree of oceanic influence in the Ria, and hence on changes in the circulation and ventilation of its water masses and/or the climate on shore. In this study of sediment cores taken in the outer Ria de Muros, the combined use of textural analysis, magnetic properties (magnetic susceptibility [kappa], ratio of anhysteretic to isothermal remanent magnetisation [ARM:IRM], and median destructive field [MDF]) and geochemical parameters (total concentrations of diagenetically stable and mobile elements in sediment and pore water) allowed the identification of a current redox front and 2 palaeosedimentary redox fronts in the sediment record. These fronts originated during periods of high marine/terrestrial organic matter ratio (as inferred from the ratio of total organic carbon to total nitrogen [TOC:TN] and delta C-13). Sedimentation rates calculated from C-14 dating results identify these periods as known periods of increased upwelling and reduced continental input due to colder, drier climate in the NW Iberian Peninsula, namely the Little Ice Age, the Dark Ages, and first cold period of the Upper Holocene.

Las Rias Baixas estan sometidas a fenomenos de afloramiento estacional que favorecen unas elevadas tasas de produccion primaria. Esta alta productividad, sumada a los aportes continentales procedentes de descargas fluviales y por escorrentia, da lugar a altas concentraciones de carbono organico en los sedimentos, lo que intensifica los procesos de diagenesis temprana. La intensidad de la diagenesis esta condicionada por la cantidad y procedencia de los aportes de materia organica al sedimento, que dependen de las condiciones climaticas e hidrograficas de las Rias. En este estudio realizado sobre un testigo de gravedad extraido en la zona externa de la Ria de Muros, la combinacion de analisis textuales y parametros geoquimicos ha permitido la identificacion de un frente redox actual y 2 frentes redox paleosedimentarios en el registro sedimentario. Estos frentes resultan de una intensificacion de la influencia oceanica en la Ria de Muros, como se deduce de las relaciones COT/NT y ?13C. Las tasas de sedimentacion calculadas a partir de dataciones por 14C asocian los momentos de mayor influencia oceanica con periodos conocidos en los que se produce un incremento del afloramiento y una reduccion de los aportes continentales debido a condiciones climaticas mas frias y secas en el noroeste de la Peninsula Iberica durante los ultimos 3000 anos.

ABSTRACT The persistence of oil after an oil spill has been widely researched on gravel beaches where the oil percolates in the superficial coarser sediment and is stored in a deeper layer of fine ...