Regional/national-scale information on coastline rates of change and trends is extremely valuable, but these studies are scarce. A widely accepted standardized methodology for analysing long-term coastline change has been difficult to achieve, but it is essential to conduct an integrated and holistic approach to coastline evolution and hence support coastal management actions. Additionally, databases providing knowledge on coastline evolution are of key importance to support both coastal management experts and users. The main objective of this work is to present the first systematic, national-scale and consistent long-term coastline evolution data of Portuguese mainland low-lying sandy coasts. The methodology used quantifies coastline evolution using a unique and robust coastline indicator (the foredune toe), which is independent of short-term changes. The dataset presented comprises (1) two polyline sets, mapping the 1958 and 2010 sandy beach–dune system coastline, both optimized for working at 1 : 50 000 scale or smaller; (2) one polyline set representing long-term change rates between 1958 and 2010, each estimated at 250 m; and (3) a table with minimum, maximum and mean of evolution rates for sandy beach–dune system coastline. All science data produced here are openly accessible at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.859136 and can be used in other studies. Results show beach erosion as the dominant trend, with a mean change rate of −0.24 ± 0.01 m year⁻¹ for all mainland Portuguese beach–dune systems. Although erosion is dominant, this evolution is variable in signal and magnitude in different coastal sediment cells and also within each cell. The most relevant beach erosion issues were found in the coastal stretches of Espinho–Torreira and Costa Nova–Praia de Mira, Cova da Gala–Leirosa, and Cova do Vapor–Costa da Caparica. The coastal segments Minho River–Nazaré and Costa da Caparica adjacent to the coast exhibit a history of major human interventions interfering with the coastal system, many of which originated and maintained a sediment deficit. In contrast, the coastal segments Troia–Sines and Sines–Cape S. Vicente have experienced less intervention and show stable or moderate accretion behaviour.

Recent work has applied microtextural and heavy mineral analyses to sandy storm and tsunami deposits from Portugal, Scotland, Indonesia and the USA. We looked at the interpretation of microtextural imagery (scanning electron microscopy) of quartz grains and heavy mineral compositions. We consider inundation events of different chronologies and sources (the AD 1755 Lisbon and 2004 Indian Ocean tsunamis, the Great Storm of 11 January 2005 in Scotland, and Hurricane Sandy in 2012) that affected contrasting coastal and hinterland settings with different regional oceanographic conditions. Storm and tsunami deposits were examined along with potential source sediments (alluvial, beach, dune and nearshore sediments) to determine provenance. Results suggest that tsunami deposits typically exhibit a significant spatial variation in grain sizes, microtextures and heavy minerals. Storm deposits show less variability, especially in vertical profiles. Tsunami and storm quartz grains had more percussion marks and fresh surfaces compared to potential source material. Moreover, in the studied cases, tsunami samples had fewer fresh surfaces than storm deposits. Heavy mineral assemblages are typically site-specific. The concentration of heavy minerals decreases upwards in tsunamigenic units, whereas storm sediments show cyclic concentrations of heavy minerals, reflected in the laminations observed macroscopically in the deposits.

On 20 February 2010, an extreme rainfall episode occurred on Madeira Island, which caused an exceptionally strong flash flood and several soil slip-debris flows, producing 45 confirmed deaths and 6 persons declared missing, as well as extensive material damages. In order to understand and quantify the importance of landsliding in routing sediment through mountainous drainage, such as Madeira Island's landscape, it was essential to perform extensive landslide analysis. This study describes the methodology used to semi-automatically detect the landslides, produce the landslide inventory maps and estimate the sediment volume produced during this particular event which ranged from 217 000 m³ to 344 000 m³ and 605 000 m³ to 984 000 m³ for the Funchal and Ribeira Brava basins, respectively. These results contributed to the design and implementation of measures to prevent damages caused by landslides in Madeira Island.