As a function of their interface conditions between fresh and saline waters, lagunar and estuarine mouths are highly complex and dynamic geomorphological systems. As a consequence of the spatial and temporal variability of tidal flows the bottom responds with a big variability in sediment characteristics and morphology. In this sense it is possible to directly relate the bottom circulation and sedimentary transport with the bedforms generated. Echosounding, sidescan sonar and high resolution seismic profiles, surveyed in the Cananéia lagoonal mouth revealed the existence of an extremely complex bed load dynamics, characterized by ripples marks and sand waves with metric heights. Bigger sand waves, localized in a depression of the lagoonal mouth, show a change of polarity in its asymmetry with a large symmetric form in the inversion point. This morphologic pattern did not present temporal variability in a yearly scale, suggesting the persistence of a pattern of bottom flows. This dynamic also presents constant convergent flows, apparently independent of the flood or ebb tide. The results allowed us to establish a first qualitative model of bottom circulation in the area, with potential uses in navigation and shore protection studies.
morphodynamics; sediment transport; bathymetry; sidescan sonar; seismic reflection
