Quantifying coastal erosion
Ireland is defined physically and culturally by its coastline, which underlies much of our industrial, agricultural, residential, and tourism sectors. Because of accelerating sea-level rise and increasing storminess, the Irish coastline also constitutes the dynamic frontline of erosion and mass wasting in the 21st Century and beyond. Projecting how coastal stability will respond to these physical agents, and quantifying the risk of loss due to retreat, is thus a priority for adaptation strategies and stakeholders alike, and the rationale for this iCRAG-funded investigation.
Focusing specifically on rocky coasts, our objectives are to (1) constrain the long-term evolution of rocky coastlines, (2) establish the drivers of coastal erosion and stability, and (3) simulate future coastal change under shifting climate/environmental conditions. Rocky coastlines comprise the majority of Ireland's perimeter, yet there is little information on their evolution and sensitivity. The driving force behind the project is Galway PhD student, Gregor Rink. Having honed his skills evaluating rock wall stability in the Alps, Gregor joined us in 2022 to apply a combine cosmogenic nuclide-modelling approach to reconstructing long-term erosion histories along Ireland's Atlantic coast. Eugene Farrell and Billy Hamilton (both from Galway) joined the team subsequently, adding their expertise in remote sensing to the mix and enabling us to construct the high-resolution DEMs required for the analyses.
Results so far constrain recent rates of erosion of soft-rock coastlines (drumlins) in Galway Bay and highlight the scope - and the need - for improving Irish relative sea-level records, since these are a key ingredient in the cosmogenic-modelling approach (and current estimates are based on possibly shaky foundations). Watch this space!
Collaborators: Eugene Farrell & Billy Hamilton (Galway), Brenda Hall (Umaine),
Students/Postdocs: Gregor Rink (Galway)
Funded by the Research Ireland Centre for Applied Geosciences (iCRAG)