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Southern North Sea study highlights destructive power of storms on North Norfolk Coast

Birkbeck study offers better understanding of impact of unpredictability of storms against rising global sea levels

Shoreline barrier behind Brancaster Beach, North Norfolk coast looking east towards Scolt Head Island (far distance).

A new study into the destructive impact of recent storms on the East Anglian coastline has revealed the combined force of strong onshore winds and large waves have at times been strong enough to move coastal barriers by more than 12 metres inland.

The researchers at Birkbeck, and the Cambridge Coastal Research Unit, University of Cambridge, believe their findings are an important step towards gaining a fuller understanding of the impact of rising global sea levels and the unpredictability of storms.

Published earlier this year, the study sought to better understand the retreat and repair of coastal barriers – naturally occurring mobile sediments which protect vulnerable communities and habitats from flooding and erosion caused by storms.

The researchers focused on four major storms which occurred in the south North Sea between 2006 and 2013, and analysed their impact upon the coastline of Scolt Head Island, set within the 45 kilometre stretch of the North Norfolk Coast between Old Hunstanton and Kelling Hard.

They compared wave strength and direction, still water level, and morphological data on shoreline change collected by official bodies around the UK. They also collected Real Time Kinematic (RTK) data that provides precise locations of the shoreline edge.

The results: Moments of significant destruction

  • The study has demonstrated periods of quiescence (between 2008–2013) with no inland movement of the barrier, but also moments of significant destruction, most notably the impact of a storm surge on 5–6 December 2013, during which coastal barriers were shifted inland by up to 15metres.
  • The researchers used archival records to demonstrate that there have been 21 storms that have attracted media attention since 1891. The most newsworthy was the storm of 1953, but in places water levels generated in 2013 exceeded those of the 1953 storm.
  • The mobility of coastal barrier sediment means that, in most cases, they can naturally reset in time, essentially repairing in part the damage inflicted by storm surges. However, the researchers have highlighted the importance of understanding this cyclical dynamic of shoreline barrier change in light of global climate change and in particular identifying phases when storm frequency prevents complete recovery in the shoreline.
  • This, they say, is particularly important given the vital role coastal barriers play in safeguarding vulnerable habitats and ecosystems, from migrating birds to human residences and transport systems.

 

“As sea level continues to rise and with high uncertainty about future changes in storminess, it is vital to know if shoreline barriers can keep pace,” said Dr Sue Brooks, senior lecturer in Physical Geography in Birkbeck, University of London’s Department of Geography, Environment and Development Studies (GEDS).

“In the future will they continue to be reset inland with associated loss of their protective role to communities near the shore, or will their recovery be sufficient to maintain their position and elevation allowing them to continue to be important natural forms of defence against sea level rise?”

The researchers’ next step is to investigate recovery rates in shoreline barriers during periods of quiescence.

Dr Brooks continued: “Mobile sediments can be returned to the barrier – either from the beach, nearshore zone or from inland ­– and we need to understand how this takes place. We need to know more about the balance between inland movement during destructive phases and rebuilding of the barrier during constructive phases.”

The study, Reconstructing and understanding the impacts of storms and surges, southern North Sea, has been published today in Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. The study was supported by The Leverhulme Trust, and a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Biodiversity & Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) Consortium grant.

The four storms investigated in the study occurred on:

  • 31 October–2 November 2006
  • 17–21 March 2007
  • 7–8 November 2007
  • 5–6 December 2013

Find out more

Photo caption: Shoreline barrier behind Brancaster Beach, North Norfolk coast looking east towards Scolt Head Island (far distance). The dune barrier reaches up to 16 m and protects lower ground to landward. The scarped face is from the storm of 5 – 6 December 2013, the photo was taken on 3 February 2016 and some recovery in the dune foot can be seen (photo by S M Brooks, GEDS, Birkbeck)

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