The beaches are areas where sand is brought by the coordinated action of the waves and tides where marine and coastal flows are weaker as well as more protected from the atlantic wind. So, as the speed of the sea is slower its capacity to drag sediments is reduced producing the accumulation of remains of quartz, felspar and shells on the beaches.
If we look at these sediments with a magnifying glass we would see that they are generally fragments of quartz mixed with pieces of carbonate coming from remains of marine organisms.
Beaches and dunes depend (not only morphologically but also on their evolution) on the energy of the environment, level of exposure, flows, swell and available sediment. They are areas protected from the swell there are cumulative processes forming different sedimentary systems such as dune systems and beaches in the east (“the western east”) part of the islands as we look towards the sea inlet.
The dune-beach system is a morphologically unstable ecosystem with constant changes very influence by wind, flows and waves, that´s why they are so fragile when the coastal dynamics are changed.
Recovery system, fence to avoid the tracks and the erosion caused by the unrestrained numbers of visitors who “invaded” the islands in summer. In the fifties and sixties, people used to take sand from those dunes for building.
Apart from Rodas, we also have other beaches such as Viños, Nosa Señora, Areíña, Area Grande de Muxieiro and Figueiras.
