Turkey's famous Konyaaltı Beach in Antalya is facing an existential threat: coastal erosion.
According to a study by Nihat Dipova, professor of geotechnics at Akdeniz University, 7.5-kilometer-long Konyaaltı Beach lost nearly 10,000 square meters of sand in the past 10 months due to rapid coastal erosion, Daily Sabah reported.
Dipova used topographic measurements and satellite images from Oct. 5, 2018, to Aug. 19, 2019, to determine that nearly 1 hectare of the beach area was lost to erosion. The coastline retreated about 19 meters in those 10 months, compared to a total retreat of 50 meters between 1934 and 2016.
The report said that the rate of erosion was linked to sand and rock quarries in the region, as well as the implementation of the Boğaçay recreation area project along the coast.
It added that reduced use of the beach for touristic purposes and harm to the urban infrastructure behind the beach would result in "losses to Antalya's economy that would be hard to recover from."
