Éditeur(s) : Elsevier
Résumé : Beach sediment cementation (beachrock formation) is a sedimentary process that can transform significant sections of beaches into rock outcrops. This contribution reports the results of two questionnaire surveys (one focusing on foreign tourists and the other on local people) carried out in coastal resorts of the island of Lesbos (Greece), on the perceptions of beach users regarding the impacts of beachrocks on their recreational activities. The survey focusing on foreign tourists showed that the majority of the interviewees took notice of the formations and commented negatively on them. Although most of the interviewees did not consider beachrocks a significant safety risk, a considerable proportion of the sample stated that beachrocks influenced their beach ratings that they would prefer beachrock-free beaches and would be willing to contribute financially to preventative and protective measures. In contrast, the results of the survey focusing on local people, who are more familiar with the phenomenon, showed a high perception of beachrock-related risks and limited beachrock tolerance. In addition to the safety risks that the irregular, slippery, beachrock surfaces may pose to beach users, beachrocks may also degrade beach aesthetics. promote beach sediment erosion and decrease the beach carrying capacity. As beachrocks are a common attribute of tropical, subtropical and low-temperate beaches that are typically associated with major tourist destinations, and are likely to spread under global warming conditions, they may be considered as a significant threat to the coastal tourist industry. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Tourism Management (0261-5177) (Elsevier), 2009-08 , Vol. 30 , N. 4 , P. 544-552

Droits : 2009 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2009/publication-6625.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.tourman.2008.09.007
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/6625/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The lower Pleistocene Kritika Member of the Rhodes Formation is composed of predominantly siliciclastic deposits that are sometimes intercalated with hardbottoms formed by drowning of former beachrock beds. A wide variety of sclerobionts occur in this environment, very different from the poorest soft‐bottom populations occurring in other levels of the Kritika Member. The most characteristic, abundant and frequently diverse are the encrusting forms: coralline algae, bivalves, serpulid worms, and bryozoans. Numerous other groups of sessile and vagile organisms are associated with these crust‐forming communities. A number of skeletal organisms (sometimes including zooxanthellate coral colonies) formed small carbonate buildups on top of several beachrock beds. Boring organisms also occur. Evidence for a two‐step deepening succession over the previously formed beachrock is provided by palaeontological and sedimentological data. The rapidly cemented sandy‐conglomeratic beds were first colonised by a relatively shallow‐water (around 20 m) biocoenosis of mostly encrusting organisms. Another association, with encrusting and erect organisms, was later established in a deeper environment (20-40 m). A comparison with Holocene beachrock occurring on the coast of Rhodes was also undertaken. Their submerged part provided habitat for poorer but similar biotas to those occurring in the Kritika Member. The lower Pleistocene beachrock and associated organogenic fossil assemblages indicate repeated drowning episodes during deposition of the Kritika Member and provide help in sequence stratigraphic interpretations of these siliciclastic deposits. Notably, they can be used as indicators of relative sea‐level changes.
ISSN: 0031-0182

hal-00795591
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00795591
DOI : 10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.09.007

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Résumé : International audience
Diverse, abundant and usually well-preserved communities of skeletal organisms occur in the lower Pleistocene (Gelasian) siliciclastic deposits of the Greek island of Rhodes. Benthic foraminifers, molluscs and bryozoans have been studied in four measured and sampled sections located in the northern part of the island. Among these bottom-dwelling organisms, numerous extant taxa are good environmental indicators and, combined with field observations and sedimentological data, they provide information on the probable conditions in which they developed. The siliciclastic deposits of the Kritika Formation have been divided into 14 different bio- and lithofacies, which have been further grouped into four facies associations corresponding to four different environmental settings: (1) continental to fluviatile; (2) brackish-water (lagoonal/deltaic); (3) infralittoral (0–20 m); and (4) upper circalittoral (depths of 20–40 m, but also down to c. 50–60 m). Among the marine facies associations, several characteristic biocoenoses have been recognized: soft-bottoms (fine to coarse sands and gravels); seagrass meadows; biogenic calcareous crusts on drowned beachrock slabs; red algal rhodoliths; and bivalve shell beds. In the studied sections, 13 superimposed genetic sequences have been documented. The repetition of similar facies associations within each sequence suggests: (1) a possibly eustasy-controlled, cyclic sedimentation; (2) a general subsidence of Rhodes during the deposition of the studied facies associations; and (3) a mostly constant range of environmental conditions (i.e. sedimentation rates and temperature) throughout the Gelasian.
ISSN: 0016-7568

hal-01277829
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01277829
DOI : 10.1017/S0016756815000230