Abstract
The Moroccan littoral stretches on 3500 km, including 500 km on the Mediterranean side; this explains the considerable extent of the country’s coastal wetlands. The great variability in the geology and morphology of these littorals has led to a wide diversity of coastal landscapes, including more than 1500 km of beaches and 1000 km of rocky coastlines, interrupted by about 300 estuaries, and five large lagoons. This study aims to develop a primary classification of Morocco’s non-estuarine beaches, which number about 163 units. Referring to their descriptive inventory, based on four categories of physiographic criteria (morphology, geology, hydrodynamic, and sediments), we built a binary matrix ‘beaches × criteria’ that was treated using two statistical tools, k-means hierarchical clustering algorithm (HCA) and factorial correspondence analysis (CA). The main result of these treatments lies in a classification of the Moroccan non-estuarine beaches in fourteen clusters that can be explained by five determinant parameters: beach dimensions (width and length), slope, sediment grain size and spring tidal height. This classification could serve as a reference scheme for a more advanced classification of North African beaches, based on both satellite imagery and field measurements. With this in mind, the data collected in Morocco could serve as the basis for a larger database covering all North African coasts and built using the methodology presented in this article. In addition, this database would contribute significantly to the national inventory of wetlands, which is a fundamental step in their conservation.