A Method to Extract Measurable Indicators of Coastal Cliff Erosion from Topographical Cliff and Beach Profiles: Application to North Norfolk and Suffolk, East England, UK
Recession of coastal cliffs (bluffs) is a significant problem globally, as around 80% of Earth’s coastlines are classified as sea cliffs. It has long been recognised that beaches control wave energy dissipation on the foreshore and, as a result, can provide protection from shoreline and cl...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-01-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/8/1/20 |
| _version_ | 1819089068307251200 |
|---|---|
| author | Pablo Muñoz López Andrés Payo Michael A. Ellis Francisco Criado-Aldeanueva Gareth Owen Jenkins |
| author_facet | Pablo Muñoz López Andrés Payo Michael A. Ellis Francisco Criado-Aldeanueva Gareth Owen Jenkins |
| author_sort | Pablo Muñoz López |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recession of coastal cliffs (bluffs) is a significant problem globally, as around 80% of Earth’s coastlines are classified as sea cliffs. It has long been recognised that beaches control wave energy dissipation on the foreshore and, as a result, can provide protection from shoreline and cliff erosion. However, there have been few studies that have quantified the relationship between beach levels and cliff recession rates. One of the few quantitative studies has shown that there is a measurable relationship between the beach thickness (or beach wedge area (BWA) as a proxy for beach thickness) and the annual cliff top recession rate along the undefended coast of North Norfolk and Suffolk in eastern England, United Kingdom (UK). Additionally, previous studies also found that for profiles with low BWA, the annual cliff top recession rate frequency distribution follows a bimodal distribution. This observation suggests that as BWA increases, not only does cliff top recession rate become lower, but also more predictable, which has important implications for coastal stakeholders particularly for planning purposes at decadal and longer time scales. In this study, we have addressed some of the limitations of the previous analysis to make it more transferable to other study sites and applicable to longer time scales. In particular, we have automatised the extraction of cliff tops, toe locations, and BWA from elevation profiles. Most importantly, we have verified the basic assumption of space-for-time substitution in three different ways: (1) Extending the number or years analysed in a previous study from 11 to 24 years, (2) extending the number of locations at which cliff top recession rate and BWA are calculated, and (3) exploring the assumption of surface material remaining unchanged over time by using innovative 3D subsurface modelling. The present study contributes to our understanding of a poorly known aspect of cliff−beach interaction and outlines a quantitative approach that allows for simple analysis of widely available topographical elevation profiles, enabling the extraction of measurable indicators of coastal erosion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T22:02:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d178a44b910143869f72856c122c44a1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1312 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T22:02:03Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
| spelling | doaj.art-d178a44b910143869f72856c122c44a12022-12-21T18:48:48ZengMDPI AGJournal of Marine Science and Engineering2077-13122020-01-01812010.3390/jmse8010020jmse8010020A Method to Extract Measurable Indicators of Coastal Cliff Erosion from Topographical Cliff and Beach Profiles: Application to North Norfolk and Suffolk, East England, UKPablo Muñoz López0Andrés Payo1Michael A. Ellis2Francisco Criado-Aldeanueva3Gareth Owen Jenkins4British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UKBritish Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UKBritish Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UKPhysical Oceanography Group, Department of Applied Physics II, University of Málaga, 29071 Málaga, SpainBritish Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UKRecession of coastal cliffs (bluffs) is a significant problem globally, as around 80% of Earth’s coastlines are classified as sea cliffs. It has long been recognised that beaches control wave energy dissipation on the foreshore and, as a result, can provide protection from shoreline and cliff erosion. However, there have been few studies that have quantified the relationship between beach levels and cliff recession rates. One of the few quantitative studies has shown that there is a measurable relationship between the beach thickness (or beach wedge area (BWA) as a proxy for beach thickness) and the annual cliff top recession rate along the undefended coast of North Norfolk and Suffolk in eastern England, United Kingdom (UK). Additionally, previous studies also found that for profiles with low BWA, the annual cliff top recession rate frequency distribution follows a bimodal distribution. This observation suggests that as BWA increases, not only does cliff top recession rate become lower, but also more predictable, which has important implications for coastal stakeholders particularly for planning purposes at decadal and longer time scales. In this study, we have addressed some of the limitations of the previous analysis to make it more transferable to other study sites and applicable to longer time scales. In particular, we have automatised the extraction of cliff tops, toe locations, and BWA from elevation profiles. Most importantly, we have verified the basic assumption of space-for-time substitution in three different ways: (1) Extending the number or years analysed in a previous study from 11 to 24 years, (2) extending the number of locations at which cliff top recession rate and BWA are calculated, and (3) exploring the assumption of surface material remaining unchanged over time by using innovative 3D subsurface modelling. The present study contributes to our understanding of a poorly known aspect of cliff−beach interaction and outlines a quantitative approach that allows for simple analysis of widely available topographical elevation profiles, enabling the extraction of measurable indicators of coastal erosion.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/8/1/20cliff behaviourcliff recessionerosionbeach wedge area (bwa)space-for-time substitutionergodic system |
| spellingShingle | Pablo Muñoz López Andrés Payo Michael A. Ellis Francisco Criado-Aldeanueva Gareth Owen Jenkins A Method to Extract Measurable Indicators of Coastal Cliff Erosion from Topographical Cliff and Beach Profiles: Application to North Norfolk and Suffolk, East England, UK Journal of Marine Science and Engineering cliff behaviour cliff recession erosion beach wedge area (bwa) space-for-time substitution ergodic system |
| title | A Method to Extract Measurable Indicators of Coastal Cliff Erosion from Topographical Cliff and Beach Profiles: Application to North Norfolk and Suffolk, East England, UK |
| title_full | A Method to Extract Measurable Indicators of Coastal Cliff Erosion from Topographical Cliff and Beach Profiles: Application to North Norfolk and Suffolk, East England, UK |
| title_fullStr | A Method to Extract Measurable Indicators of Coastal Cliff Erosion from Topographical Cliff and Beach Profiles: Application to North Norfolk and Suffolk, East England, UK |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Method to Extract Measurable Indicators of Coastal Cliff Erosion from Topographical Cliff and Beach Profiles: Application to North Norfolk and Suffolk, East England, UK |
| title_short | A Method to Extract Measurable Indicators of Coastal Cliff Erosion from Topographical Cliff and Beach Profiles: Application to North Norfolk and Suffolk, East England, UK |
| title_sort | method to extract measurable indicators of coastal cliff erosion from topographical cliff and beach profiles application to north norfolk and suffolk east england uk |
| topic | cliff behaviour cliff recession erosion beach wedge area (bwa) space-for-time substitution ergodic system |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/8/1/20 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pablomunozlopez amethodtoextractmeasurableindicatorsofcoastalclifferosionfromtopographicalcliffandbeachprofilesapplicationtonorthnorfolkandsuffolkeastenglanduk AT andrespayo amethodtoextractmeasurableindicatorsofcoastalclifferosionfromtopographicalcliffandbeachprofilesapplicationtonorthnorfolkandsuffolkeastenglanduk AT michaelaellis amethodtoextractmeasurableindicatorsofcoastalclifferosionfromtopographicalcliffandbeachprofilesapplicationtonorthnorfolkandsuffolkeastenglanduk AT franciscocriadoaldeanueva amethodtoextractmeasurableindicatorsofcoastalclifferosionfromtopographicalcliffandbeachprofilesapplicationtonorthnorfolkandsuffolkeastenglanduk AT garethowenjenkins amethodtoextractmeasurableindicatorsofcoastalclifferosionfromtopographicalcliffandbeachprofilesapplicationtonorthnorfolkandsuffolkeastenglanduk AT pablomunozlopez methodtoextractmeasurableindicatorsofcoastalclifferosionfromtopographicalcliffandbeachprofilesapplicationtonorthnorfolkandsuffolkeastenglanduk AT andrespayo methodtoextractmeasurableindicatorsofcoastalclifferosionfromtopographicalcliffandbeachprofilesapplicationtonorthnorfolkandsuffolkeastenglanduk AT michaelaellis methodtoextractmeasurableindicatorsofcoastalclifferosionfromtopographicalcliffandbeachprofilesapplicationtonorthnorfolkandsuffolkeastenglanduk AT franciscocriadoaldeanueva methodtoextractmeasurableindicatorsofcoastalclifferosionfromtopographicalcliffandbeachprofilesapplicationtonorthnorfolkandsuffolkeastenglanduk AT garethowenjenkins methodtoextractmeasurableindicatorsofcoastalclifferosionfromtopographicalcliffandbeachprofilesapplicationtonorthnorfolkandsuffolkeastenglanduk |