Abstract
Abstract
A 25-year, high-resolution shoreline position record at Cala Millor beach (Western Mediterranean), combining
in-situ
monitoring and remote-sensing observations, was used to investigate the short-term (days to weeks) beach response to storm-induced drivers and the long-term (inter-annual to decadal) behaviour driven by sea-level changes. At the storm scale, cumulative wave energy emerged as the dominant driver of shoreline change, although prior beach width and storm duration also played an important role, highlighting the multifactorial nature of beach response. Long-term analysis reveals low-frequency shoreline variability, with beach recovery between 2007 and 2015 coinciding with reduced storm-wave energy and a prolonged negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation. Shoreline evolution shows marked alongshore differences, with alternating behaviour between northern and southern sectors suggesting shoreline rotation and sediment redistribution. Although sea-level variability contributes to low-frequency shoreline fluctuations, particularly in the southern and central sectors, no conclusive evidence is found that recent accelerated sea-level rise has yet become the dominant forcing controlling long-term shoreline retreat averaged over the entire beach. These findings refer to the present observational period. Under continued projected sea level rise, its influence is expected to increase and may eventually become the dominant driver of shoreline evolution at this and other similarly vulnerable microtidal beaches.