Alonso, R.; López, G.; Mosquera, R.; Solari, S., and Teixeira, L., 2014. Coastal erosion in Balneario Solís, Uruguay.

Balneario Solís is a seaside resort located in Uruguay, on the northern coast of the outer Río de la Plata estuary. Its main beach has suffered an erosion process that has affected the cliffs, producing a retreat of approximately 35 m between 1980 and 2001. Nowadays, some buildings are at risk of collapse and tourism has been seriously affected. Aerial photo analysis shows a temporal coincidence between the beginning of the erosion process and a change in the growing direction of a sandspit located next to the beach. Assuming the later as a geomorphologic indicator of the net littoral transport, the erosion process was linked to littoral transport change. No human factors were clearly identified to explain this change. Therefore, two hypotheses were formulated and analyzed: climate variability and natural modifications of the bathymetry in the outer zone of the beach. Finally, beach nourishment is proposed in order to restore the beach and protect the cliffs, and some questions are formulated for guiding future works in the site.