Extreme wave activity during 2013/2014 winter and morphological impacts along the Atlantic coast of Europe

Type Article
Date 2016-03
Language English
Author(s) Masselink Gerd1, Castelle BrunoORCID2, 3, Scott Tim1, Dodet GuillaumeORCID4, Suanez Serge4, Jackson Derek5, Floc'h France6
Affiliation(s) 1 : Univ Plymouth, Sch Marine Sci & Engn, Coastal Proc Res Grp, Plymouth PL4 8AA, Devon, England.
2 : CNRS, UMR EPOC, Pessac, France.
3 : Univ Bordeaux, UMR EPOC, Pessac, France.
4 : Inst Univ Europeen Mer UBO, CNRS, UMR 6554, LETG Brest Geomer, Plouzane, France.
5 : Univ Ulster, Sch Geog & Environm Sci, Ctr Coastal & Marine Res, Coleraine BT52 1SA, Londonderry, North Ireland.
6 : Inst Univ Europeen Mer UBO, CNRS, UMR 6538, Domaines Ocean, Plouzane, France.
Source Geophysical Research Letters (0094-8276) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2016-03 , Vol. 43 , N. 5 , P. 2135-2143
DOI 10.1002/2015GL067492
WOS© Times Cited 224
Note This article also appears in: 2016 GRL Editor Highlights
Keyword(s) waves, storms, beaches, Atlantic, Europe
Abstract

Studies of coastal vulnerability due to climate change tend to focus on the consequences of sea level rise, rather than the complex coastal responses resulting from changes to the extreme wave climate. Here we investigate the 2013/2014 winter wave conditions that severely impacted the Atlantic coast of Europe and demonstrate that this winter was the most energetic along most of the Atlantic coast of Europe since at least 1948. Along exposed open-coast sites, extensive beach and dune erosion occurred due to offshore sediment transport. More sheltered sites experienced less erosion and one of the sites even experienced accretion due to beach rotation induced by alongshore sediment transport. Storm wave conditions such as were encountered during the 2013/2014 winter have the potential to dramatically change the equilibrium state (beach gradient, coastal alignment, and nearshore bar position) of beaches along the Atlantic coast of Europe.

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Supporting Information S1 4 899 KB Open access
Figure S1 6 MB Open access
Data Set S1 75 KB Open access
Data Set S2 30 KB Open access
Data Set S3 86 MB Open access
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How to cite 

Masselink Gerd, Castelle Bruno, Scott Tim, Dodet Guillaume, Suanez Serge, Jackson Derek, Floc'h France (2016). Extreme wave activity during 2013/2014 winter and morphological impacts along the Atlantic coast of Europe. Geophysical Research Letters, 43(5), 2135-2143. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL067492 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00606/71852/