Ignacio Alonso

TL;DR: In this paper, the contribution of airborne Saharan dust to soil development in northeastern Gran Canaria was quantified using aeolian dust collected weekly at different altitudes and distances from the coast during a year in a series of collection plots.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present evidence of long-range, wind-transported large mineral particles and a 2004 case study of uplift wind velocity vs. plume dust generation, as well as a transport efficiency model that can explain the existence of fine sand in the dust deposits on La Graciosa Island and in the airborne samplers on Gran Canaria Island.

Abstract: The Maspalomas dune field and adjacent beaches are the most extensive coastal sedimentary environment on the island of Gran Canaria. This area is very important from both a natural and an economic perspective. The analysis of aerial photographs and satellite images from recent decades does not show important shoreline changes for the El Ingles and Maspalomas beaches, which can be considered, consequently, in a state of equilibrium. However, the Maspalomas dune field presents several modifications, such as aeolian corridors associated with beach kiosks, a significant reduction in thickness of the aeolian deposits, and an increase of deflation areas in the underlying substratum. All these are proof of a drastic reduction in sediments. Sediment transport pathways obtained from the grain size parameters of beach samples show an input of sediments from El Ingles beach to Maspalomas dune field, whereas longshore drift is predominant on Maspalomas beach. This grain-scale analysis agrees with previous ge...

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used grain size, mineralogical and micropalaeontological analyses to identify the source area of wind-blown materials, considering five possible sources: windward beaches, Pliocene dune cliffs, Upper Pleistocene aeolian deposits, carbonate crusts and basaltic outcrops.

TL;DR: In this article, three different zones have been defined along beach and foredune according to their sedimentary dynamics behaviour: i) Eastern zone, with a clear erosive tendency generating the backshore and foreding destruction, ii) Middle zone with dune erosion but sediment accumulation in the intertidal zone, and iii) Western zone, where the beach presents an accumulative profile, with well developed supratidal area and active dunes.