Investigations Bearing on the Age and Development of Chesil Beach, Dorset, and the Associated Area

Internal structure of a barrier beach as revealed by ground penetrating radar (GPR): Chesil beach, UK

“…The Portland raised beach is believed to have formed around 210 k yr BP and to have been re-occupied around 125 k yr BP. This raised beach and its lateral correlatives are absent behind The Fleet, leading Carr and Blackley (1973) to suggest that there may have been a fore-runner of the Chesil Beach well offshore at this time, although there is little direct evidence for this assertion other than the absence of the raised beach. 2.…”

“…Following the LGM, sea level rose at a rate of around 1 mm/yr so that by 10 k yr BP it would have been around −45 m OD. Carr and Blackley (1973) suggest that the proto-Chesil Beach would have undergone transgression with this rise of sea level and may have been approaching the current shoreline of Lyme Bay around 10 k yr BP. According to Carr and Blackley (1973) continued landward transgression of the barrier then occurred as the rate of sea level rise accelerated to c. 15 mm/yr.…”

Holocene coastal evolution and sea‐level change on the southern coast of England: a review

“…In the western Channel a macrotidal regime again prevails and gravel and sand barriers dominate the coast once more, with the most striking example being Chesil Beach in Dorset, which rises to a crestal elevation ca. 14 m above mean sea-level (Carr and Blackley, 1973). Where local supplies of gravel are absent, accumulations of sand occur, such as at the western limit of the Channel on the Isles of Scilly.…”

Wave-Dominated Coasts

“…As is the case for sandy barrier systems, evolution of coarse clastic barriers is controlled by a number of factors, including the littoral sediment budget and sea-level change (Carr and Blackley, 1973;Bennett et al, 2009). Where sediment supply is limited or where there are losses alongshore, coarse clastic barriers tend to roll over through overwash (Forbes et al, 1991) and this may be enhanced where sea level is rising (Carter et al, 1989;Orford et al, 1991aOrford et al, , 1991bOrford et al, , 1995.…”