Salt Marshes in the Gulf of Gabes (Southeastern Tunisia): Their Morphology and Recent Dynamics

Abstract

The Gulf of Gabes borders one of the rare examples of tidal marches in a semiarid Mediterranean climate. The salt marshes are unique because of their morphology and their dynamics. They bear the imprint of the aridity of the environment and often undergo an evolution under the influence of a capricious stream flow, an antecedent network of important submarine channels, and wind. The recent sea-level rise and subsidence of the coastal margin favor the extension of some salt marshes on to the coastal lowlands. These often coincide with a sebkha landscape which constitutes in itself one of the unique aspects of the southern Tunisia coast.