The role of the Wadi Flood in the spatio-temporal sedimentary morphodynamics evolution in an arid/semi-arid beach: Wadi Ksob and Essaouira beach (Morocco)

Located on the Moroccan Atlantic coast, the coastline of Essaouira is recognized by the existence of the outlet of Wadi Ksob catchment (1480 Km²). Therefore, this Wadi constitutes the principal sediment sources of the Essaouira bay beach and its coastal system, especially during the period of floods. In order to understand the fate of Wadi Ksob sediment flows and its principal role in the coastline balance, and to find out the spatio-temporal sedimentary morphodynamics evolution in this semi-arid area, several topographic and hydrodynamic measurement campaigns were carried out between 2004 and 2013, using a total station and an ADCP (Acoustic Doppler current profiler).