ABSTRACT
The Solís Chico river, located on the southern Uruguayan coast, flows into the Río de la Plata estuary. In recent years the river mouth has migrated westward, away from the river axis, forming a sand spit that hinders the recreational use of the Parque del Plata (west resort) beach. The objective of this work is to find out possible causes of the river mouth migration. The river behavior was characterized using a hydrological model together with a one-dimensional hydrodynamic and sedimentological model. Regarding maritime forcing agents, long-shore and cross-shore sediment transport produced by sea waves were calculated. It was found that the migration of the mouth is mainly due to an extraordinary river sediment supply occurred in 2002 , combined with an increase in the net westward potential long-shore transport rate since the late 90 s, and that the meanders dynamic of the river is not affecting the evolution of the mouth.
