Abstract

The bathymetry adjacent to the Department of La Guajira and the Department of Magdalena has been understudied, the knowledge about these geographical areas is of great importance for the study and development of coastal areas. The objec-tive of this work is to characterize the bathymetry in the shelf and continental slope zones corresponding to these depart-ments, broadening the knowledge about these areas, as input for a better understanding and management of the ecosystem that they make up. A SIMRAD EK80 scientific echo sounder was used with a transducer of 38 and 200 kHz. Sampling was systematic from the coastline to the break of the shelf and continental slope. According to the bathymetric profiles there is a marked difference between the characteristics of the underwater geography between the two departments, highlighting the identification of different geographical areas in the continental shelf adjacent to the Magdalena Department, while the con-tinental shelf adjacent to the Department of La Guajira has no significant variations in its geography along this. To the north of the Guajira Peninsula the Continental shelf is very narrow, presenting depth profiles of 200 meters (m) to about 10 nautical miles (MN) of the coast and in front of Punta Gallinas to only 3 mn. To the west, from the Cabo de la Vela the shelf is widened and reaches a maximum of about 25 MN in front of Riohacha, then in the vicinity of the river Palomino is reduced again and practically disappears in the sector of the Natural National Park Tayrona and Santa Marta. In front of the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta the platform is extended again to about 12 MN. Five underwater cannons were identified: in front of Riohacha, Parque Tayrona, La Needle, Las Animas and Río Magdalena

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