Bathymetric Changes in the Submerged Delta of the Jucar River (Spain, Western Mediterranean) from the 19th Century to the Present

The Jucar is a perennial river with a high sedimentary load which has transferred sediment to the continental shelf in the form of a deltaic lobe since pre-historic times. The aim of this study is to analyze the changes that have occurred in the submerged delta of the Jucar since the nineteenth century. With this aim in mind, five nautical charts were georeferenced, covering the period from 1893 to the present day, from which Digital Elevation Models were generated and compared using Geographic Information Systems. The results indicate that the large-scale contributions of the nineteenth century caused the submerged delta to grow during the cold, dry period of the Little Ice Age. In the mid-twentieth century, the flow and solid load of the river were reduced by the construction of dams, leading to the stabilization of the delta. The bursting of the Tous Dam in 1982 and the ensuing ordinary floods that occurred until its reconstruction, led to large amounts of sediment that counteracted the anthropic action generated by the sediment trap of the dams. The climate of the twenty-first century, characterized by frequent extreme weather events, has allowed the deltaic lobe to continue to grow until the present day since these events increased sediment input to the shelf. Coastal erosion is also observed.