Coastal Hazards 1: Erosion

Learning Outcomes
• What are the processes operating along
coastlines
• What are the typical landforms found
• Coastal erosion as a hazard
• Factors influencing coastal processes and
hazards
• Management of coastal erosion
 Natural processes
• Wave action, tides etc
• Sediment transport
• Landforms of erosion and deposition
(beaches, spits, tombolos, lagoons, dunes-
aeolian, caves, stacks, arches, cliffs)
 Wave Dynamics
• Wave length (L)= Distance between crests,
• Wave height (H) = Vertical distance between the crest
and the trough
• Wave base = depth below which waves have no effect
= ½ * wave length

Period (T)= Time taken

for two successive
waves to pass a point
Velocity (V) = L/T
 Berm

Offshore = Farthest out, beyond surf zone

Foreshore = surf zone, tidal flat and swash zone
Backshore = Inwards from Foreshore upto the
coastal dunes
Fetch and waves
Waves heights around the world
 Wave Motions

• Particles in a wave travel circular paths

• The water in a deep-water wave does not
move forward
• Below wave base, wave effects are negligible
Wave Motions

2. Water in a wave oscillates but

does not move with the wave
Shoaling (wave amplification)
Types of wave
 Summer

Winter
• Waves change path
when they reach
shallow water
• Wave energy is
concentrated on
headlands and spread
out in bays
Rip currents: water that flows straight out to sea from the
surf zone. Travel at the surface and die out at depth.
Carry fine grained particles out of surf zone to deeper water.
Tides
Cliff processes
Morphological features
of coastal erosion
Cave and
blowhole
development:
Flamborough

Source: May (2007)

Sediment transport along beaches

Direction of movement

Backwash is alwa
right angles to th

swash

Backwash
Landforms of deposition
Coastal geomorphology: Spurn Head
Impacts of coastal erosion
Coastal erosion

Suorce:
urbanrim.org.uk/Holderness.
2013 storm surge breach
Happisburgh
Coastal Erosion Impacts

2014 winter storms

Rebuild cost
= £35 million
 Problems
• Climate change
– Sea level (Eustatic and Isostatic changes)
– Climatic oscillations
• Increased storminess (wave height / energy)
• Increased storm, hurricane frequency
• River regulation, starvation of sediments to
coastal zone
• Building / encroachment onto coastal zone
– Loss of natural buffers (sand dunes, lagoons etc)
Sea Level Rise
Climatic change and
oscillations

Alexander et al. (2005)

Uplift and
subsidence
River regulation, sediment starvation
 Dams reduce sediment
supply

Over 219 dams in the

Columbia river basin have
reduced sand supply to
beaches by around two-
thirds

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/coast/erosion/study.html
Encroachment of coastlines: Miami beach

• Soft Engineering; beach nourishment

• Commenced 1970 s
• $62 million over 10 years, 160 K m3 of sand
• 18 million m3 of sand dredged and pumped
• 200 m wide beach by 1980s
 Management of coastal erosion
• Legislation; planning management etc
• Hard engineering
• Soft engineering
• Conservation of dunes, lagoons etc
http://www.eurosion.org/shoreline/lessons_learned.pdf
Hard Engineering

(source: Masselink and Hughes, 2003)

Seawall failure

(source: Masselink and Hughes, 2003)

Historic sea defences against coastal erosion
at Spurn Head
Justification & Economics

Risk & Spending

 Suggested Further Reading:
Airoldi, L., Abbiati, M., Beck, M.W., Hawkins, S.J., Jonsson, P.R., Martin, D., Moschella, P.S., Sundelöf, A.,
Thompson, R.C. and Åberg, P., 2005. An ecological perspective on the deployment and design of low-
crested and other hard coastal defence structures. Coastal engineering, 52(10), pp.1073-1087.
Bird, E. 2008. Coastal Geomorphology: an introduction. Wiley: Chichester, 411pp.
Hanson, H., Brampton, A., Capobianco, M., Dette, H.H., Hamm, L., Laustrup, C., Lechuga, A. and Spanhoff,
R., 2002. Beach nourishment projects, practices, and objectives—a European overview. Coastal
engineering, 47(2), pp.81-111.
Quinn, N., Lewis, M., Wadey, M.P., Haigh, I.I. 2014. Assessing the temporal variability in extreme storm-
tide time series for coastal flood risk assessment. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 119, 4983-
4998.
Masselink, G., Highes, M.G. 2003. Introduction to coastal processes and geomorphology. Arnold:
London. 354pp.
McKenna, J., Cooper, A. and O’Hagan, A.M., 2008. Managing by principle: A critical analysis of the
European principles of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM). Marine Policy, 32(6), pp.941-955.
Penning-Rowswell, E. et al., 2014. Flood and coastal erosion risk management: a manual for economic
appraisal. Taylor and Francis, 447pp
Salman, A., Lombardo, S. and Doody, P., 2004. Coastal Erosion-Evaluation of the need for action. Europe:
Directorate General Environment, European Commission.
Zanuttigh, B. 2015. Coastal Risk Management in a changing climate. Butterworth-Heinemann:
Amsterdam.
Also see articles in journals such as:
Journal of Coastal Research; Coastal Engineering Journal; Journal of Coastal Conservation; Estuarine and
Coastal Marine Science; Ocean and Coastal Management; Environmental Hazards