Dillenburg, S.R., Barboza, E.G., Tomazelli, L.J., Rosa, M.L.C.C., Maciel, G.S., 2013. Aeolian Deposition and Barrier Stratigraphy of the Transition Region between a Regressive and a Transgressive Barrier: an example from Southern Brazil.

The transition region between regressive and transgressive barriers on the northern and central coastal sectors of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) in southern Brazil is represented by a 170 km long stretch of coast where the barrier shows a general aggradational/stationary (a/s) behavior on a long term time scale. In this study, approximately 50 km of this transition region was analyzed at four sites: Tramandaí, Jardim do Éden, Cidreira and Dunas Altas. All barriers began forming around 7.8 - 7.2 ka. The northernmost site (Tramandaí) has a typical a/s stratigraphy, and barrier morphology is dominated by transgressive dunefields. Ten km to the south, at Jardim do Éden, the barrier shows a transgressive stratigraphy, and barrier morphology is also dominated by transgressive dunefields. At Tramandaí the maximum barrier height is around 4 m, with a maximum of 6 m, while at Jardim do Éden it averages 6 m, with a maximum of 11 m. Further to the south, 10 km from Jardim do Éden, the barrier at Cidreira shows a dominant transgressive stratigraphy developed in the last 7 ka, but with evidence of a relatively small regression (~600 m). Barrier height averages 10 m, reaching 20 m due to the existence here of a large transgressive dunefield. And finally, at around 30 km to the south of Cidreira, the a/s barrier of Dunas Altas occurs. Barrier morphology here is dominated by transgressive dunefields, with a surface height of around 8 m, but fronted by the largest and highest foredunes (around 8–10 m) in Rio Grande do Sul. The Dunas Altas coastline has regressed around 600 m in the last 7.8 ka. The Holocene barrier analyzed in this study, along a 50 km segment shows a general a/s behavior in the last 7.8 ka. The long time of a relatively stationary condition allowed the barrier to grow vertically by accumulation of aeolian deposits of at least four phases of transgressive dunefield development.