Hydrogeology of the dune barriers of Buenos Aires: vulnerability to sea-level rise

Abstract

The sandy barriers of Buenos Aires have had an explosive urban growth once the dunes were afforested. The original bathing villages of Villa Gesell, Pinamar and Partido de la Costa are today being copied by counties where the water resources are limited and the Geomorphology conditions different. Several aquifers have been exploited with different successes. The well-known documented experiences from the Eastern Sandy Barrier (BMO) are considered, while some different experiences from the Southern Barrier (BMA) are also reported. The interface between the marine salt water and the fresh water is oblique at the BMO and is expected to migrate with the sea level rise. Instead, the interface between salt and fresh water is horizontal and conditioned to the nature of the rocks beneath. According to these trends in the land-use changes, the effects of the sea-level rise are forecasted.