A Feasibility Investigation for Developing Artificial Beachrocks: A Potential Measure for Coastal Protection in Southeast Yogyakarta Coast, Indonesia

Erosion prone sandy beaches are frequently covered by cement and mortar to preserve the coastal zone, but the conventional approach has an adverse impact on the environment, altering the coastal landscape and processes unfavorably. The term “beachrock” refers to cemented coastal sediments through a long-term formation of CaCO₃ cement, and which is an important feature in many tropical coastlines as it appears to have a substantial anchoring effect against wave effects and erodibility. Therefore, the objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility in progressing the formation of artificial beachrocks using natural materials (e.g., microbes, sand, shell, pieces of coral, and seaweed etc.) within a short-term, and to introduce the method as a novel candidate for coastal protection. In this study, both resistivity survey and multi analysis seismic wave (MASW) survey along the same lines were performed at first to elucidate the subsurface structure of existing beachrocks in the Southeast Yogyakarta coastal area (Indonesia), followed by the laboratory analysis, which is aimed understand the basics in the formation mechanism. Peloidal micrite cement, the cement comprised of aragonite needles, micritized granules and the cover of micritic were observed in natural beachrocks. Mimicking the mechanism, an attempt has been undertaken to develop artificial beachrocks in the laboratory via microbial induced carbonate precipitation (MICP). Finally, the physical and mechanical properties were well compared between the artificially formed beachrocks and natural beachrocks collected from the survey lines. The results suggest that the artificial deposits treated for 14 days under optimum conditions, achieved a peak unconfined compressive strength of around 6 MPa similar to that of weak-consolidated natural beachrock. The comparison further reveals that the variables such as porosity, Vp, Vs, and strength are primarily rely on the precipitated morphology of the crystals.