Role of Atmospheric Indices in Describing Shoreline Variability Along the Atlantic Coast of Europe

Beaches are highly variable environments and respond to changes in wave forcing, themselves modulated by climate variability. Here, we analyze three high‐quality beach profile data sets to robustly investigate, for the first time, the link between shoreline change, wave forcing and climate variabili...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: Masselink, G, Castelle, B, Scott, T, Konstantinou, A
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2024
Subjects:
beaches
atmospheric indices
shoreline variability
storms
North Atlantic
North Atlantic oscillation
Online Access:https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/21981
https://doi.org/10.1029/2023gl106019
Description
Summary:Beaches are highly variable environments and respond to changes in wave forcing, themselves modulated by climate variability. Here, we analyze three high‐quality beach profile data sets to robustly investigate, for the first time, the link between shoreline change, wave forcing and climate variability along the Atlantic coast of Europe. Winter wave conditions are strongly associated with North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Western Europe Pressure Anomaly (WEPA), with WEPA explaining 50%–80% of the winter wave power variability. Shoreline variability during winter is also strongly linked to NAO and WEPA, with WEPA explaining 25% of the winter shoreline variability. Winter wave conditions and associated shoreline variability are both unrelated to El Nino Southern Oscillation. In addition to the atmospherically‐forced beach morphological response, shoreline change also depends strongly on the antecedent morphology as evidenced by significant correlations between summer/winter shoreline response and the shoreline position at the start of each season.

Similar Items