Evolução costeira controlada por promontório no litoral de Paracuru – Ceará

Abstract

The city of Paracuru is part of the coastal area of the state of Ceará and is located 85 km from the capital, Fortaleza. Paracuru presents intense environmental dynamics that can be seen through various types of reliefs that show the exchanges between matter and energy in the coastal system. This paper took under consideration the influence of the Paracuru’s promontory in the coastal and littoral dynamics. Thus, the research was based on the analysis of littoral relief to understand the environmental dynamics of that part of city’s coast. To analyze these coastal areas, it was made bibliographic search, cartographic survey and fieldworks, plus some cabinet steps for the treatment of data. The environmental characterization and analysis of the coastal dynamics demonstrates that the Paracuru’s promontory develops determining functions in the current configuration of the coast because it controls the distribution of sediments transported by longshore drift. The analysis also shows that the variety of land uses determines historically the accumulation of environmental impacts on the coastal plain of Paracuru.