Understanding the recession of the Holderness Coast, east Yorkshire, UK: a new presentation of temporal and spatial patterns

Quinn, Joanna R.; Philip, L.K; Murphy, William M.

doi:10.1144/1470-9236/08-032

Cited by 36 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The result is a rapidly eroding coastline. Recession rates for the Holderness coast have been documented in recent studies by Montreuil and Bullard (2012), Brown et al (2012) and Quinn et al (2009). Average recession rates are on the order of 1-2 m a −1 , but may be an order of magnitude greater during storm events, or local, large-scale collapses.…”

Section: Holderness Coastlinementioning

confidence: 92%

“…35 m high. The remaining 55 km of coast to the south of Flamborough Head is composed largely of Devensian glacial till and other deposits; these range between 2 and 35 m in thickness, thinning towards the south (Quinn et al, 2009;Catt, 2007). The glacial cliffs are easily eroded and are thought to be the dominant source of the littoral sand at the coast.…”

Section: Holderness Coastlinementioning

confidence: 99%

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Coastal vulnerability of a pinned, soft-cliff coastline, II: assessing the influence of sea walls on future morphology

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Coastal defences have long been employed to halt or slow coastal erosion, and their impact on local sediment flux and ecology has been studied in detail through field research and numerical simulation. The nonlocal impact of a modified sediment flux regime on mesoscale erosion and accretion has received less attention. Morphological changes at this scale due to defending structures can be difficult to quantify or identify with field data. Engineering-scale numerical models, often applied to assess the design of modern defences on local coastal erosion, tend not to cover large stretches of coast and are rarely applied to assess the impact of older structures. We extend previous work to explore the influences of sea walls on the evolution and morphological sensitivity of a pinned, soft-cliff, sandy coastline under a changing wave climate. The Holderness coast of East Yorkshire, UK, is used as a case study to explore model scenarios where the coast is both defended with major sea walls and allowed to evolve naturally were there are no sea defences.Using a mesoscale numerical coastal evolution model, observed wave-climate data are perturbed linearly to assess the sensitivity of the coastal morphology to changing wave climate for both the defended and undefended scenarios. Comparative analysis of the simulated output suggests that sea walls in the south of the region have a greater impact on sediment flux due to increased sediment availability along this part of the coast. Multiple defence structures, including those separated by several kilometres, were found to interact with each other, producing complex changes in coastal morphology under a changing wave climate. Although spatially and temporally heterogeneous, sea walls generally slowed coastal recession and accumulated sediment on their up-drift side.

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Section: Holderness Coastlinementioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Holderness Coastlinementioning

confidence: 99%

Coastal vulnerability of a pinned, soft-cliff coastline, II: assessing the influence of sea walls on future morphology

et al. 2014

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“…The Holderness coast stretches ∼ 60 km from the chalk cliffs at Flamborough Head in the north to Spurn Head in the south (Scott Wilson, 2009;Quinn et al, 2009). The coastline is cut mainly in glacial till deposited during Devensian glaciations (c. 35 to 11.5 ka BP).…”

Section: Geomorphologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1). Whilst well studied and monitored (Scott Wilson, 2009;Quinn et al, 2009;Montreuil and Bullard, 2012), the possible future states of this coastline have received only minimal investigation using numerical modelling (Castedo et al, 2012). Efforts to understand this coastline are vital as it is among the most rapidly eroding of coastlines in Europe, with concomitant and serious threats to people, property, the local economy and infrastructure along its length.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to understand the mechanisms and retreat rates within the Holderness littoral cell, and to develop a practical coastal management strategy (see Scott Wilson, 2009), most recent studies have focussed on monitoring and measurement of coastal position and beach profiles over several years (Quinn et al, 2009;Brown et al, 2012;Montreuil and Bullard, 2012). Modern observational techniques often use lidar scanning systems to provide accurate measurements of cliff retreat and volume loss.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coastal vulnerability of a pinned, soft-cliff coastline – Part I: Assessing the natural sensitivity to wave climate

et al. 2014

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Abstract. The impact of future sea-level rise on coastal erosion as a result of a changing climate has been studied in detail over the past decade. The potential impact of a changing wave climate on erosion rates, however, is not typically considered. We explore the effect of changing wave climates on a pinned, soft-cliff, sandy coastline, using as an example the Holderness coast of East Yorkshire, UK.The initial phase of the study concentrates on calibrating a numerical model to recently measured erosion rates for the Holderness coast using an ensemble of geomorphological and shoreface parameters under an observed offshore wave climate. In the main phase of the study, wave climate data are perturbed gradually to assess their impact on coastal morphology. Forward-modelled simulations constrain the nature of the morphological response of the coast to changes in wave climate over the next century. Results indicate that changes to erosion rates over the next century will be spatially and temporally heterogeneous, with a variability of up to ±25 % in the erosion rate relative to projections under constant wave climate. The heterogeneity results from the current coastal morphology and the sediment transport dynamics consequent on differing wave climate regimes.

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Unraveling the dynamics that scale cross‐shore headland relief on rocky coastlines: 2. Model predictions and initial tests

Limber

Murray

2014

JGR Earth Surface

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We explore the behavior of a theoretical model of cross-shore headland relief caused by alongshore differences in lithology and rock strength on rocky coastlines. Results address the question of why some rocky coasts exhibit frequent headland and embayment sequences while others evolve to a flat, smooth, and sandy configuration. Main model predictions are that cross-shore headland amplitude is inversely proportional to beach sediment supply and the strength of wave energy convergence and divergence along the headland and bay, and proportional to the alongshore embayment length (or distance between headlands) and the difference between headland and bay rock strength. The coastline's initial physical properties (sea cliff height, composition, etc.) largely determine whether headlands will be persistent or transient landscape features. Model timescales over which the headland and bay reach steady state amplitude, or disappear to a flat coastline, range from 120 to 175,000 years depending on how close the initial amplitude is to steady state. In many cases, the coastline must evolve over several sea level highstands in order to reach equilibrium. A characteristic timescale (independent of initial conditions) shows that the coastline evolves most rapidly when: wave focusing is stronger; sea cliff rock is weaker or retreats faster in a given wave climate; the sea cliff retreat rate decreases rapidly as a function of beach width (i.e., the beach is very effective at dampening wave energy); and the coastline is sediment rich. Comparisons to nature suggest that our model is qualitatively capturing general rocky coastline dynamics and that modeled headland amplitudes are consistent with observed amplitudes.

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Understanding the recession of the Holderness Coast, east Yorkshire, UK: a new presentation of temporal and spatial patterns

Cited by 36 publications

References 32 publications

Coastal vulnerability of a pinned, soft-cliff coastline, II: assessing the influence of sea walls on future morphology

Coastal vulnerability of a pinned, soft-cliff coastline, II: assessing the influence of sea walls on future morphology

Coastal vulnerability of a pinned, soft-cliff coastline – Part I: Assessing the natural sensitivity to wave climate

Unraveling the dynamics that scale cross‐shore headland relief on rocky coastlines: 2. Model predictions and initial tests

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