The Influence of Ephemeral Beaches on Alongshore Variability of Hard-rock Cliff Erosion

Abstract:

The role of abrasion of rock cliffs is typically considered in the long-term presence of a beach. During monthly monitoring of hard rock cliff erosion along the North Yorkshire coast, UK, we have observed a number of small ephemeral beaches of highly variable duration and extent. The erosive significance of the temporary presence of sediment at the cliffs is unknown and we set out to examine whether observed alongshore variability in erosion can be linked to the presence of ephemeral beaches. We explore the temporal and spatial variability in sediment deposition and transport along a low-sediment rock coast foreshore, the controlling marine conditions and the effects on cliff erosion.

We focus on a 500 m wide embayment set into 70 m high hard rock cliffs consisting of horizontally bedded Jurassic mudstone, shale, siltstone and sandstone. The bay has a wide, shallow gradient foreshore up to 300 m wide with highly variable topography. With the exception of an ephemeral beach (of widths up to approximately 150 m alongshore and 10 m cross-shore) the rock foreshore is typically sand-free, with failed material from the cliffs quickly removed from the cliff toe by the sea leaving only boulders. The high tidal range (6 m) and storm wave environment of the North Sea result in variable marine conditions at the site.

We use magnetic sand tracers and a grid of foreshore and cliff face magnets to examine the sand transport across the foreshore and to identify the vertical extent of cliff face impacted by sand. We monitor the driving marine conditions on the foreshore using a network of current meters and wave pressure sensors. Erosion of the cliff face across the whole bay is monitored at high-resolution using terrestrial laser scanning to examine the spatial distribution of abrasion and the influence of the ephemeral beach.