Capturing geological

change at the coast

The Tyndall Centre’s Coastal Regional Simulator is exploring the
impact of sea level rise on the management of the UK’s coast so
that coastal planners and policymakers can make decisions
informed by the impact of climate change. A number of Tyndall
projects are already working on critical aspects of the simulator,
such as coastal erosion, sediment dynamics, biodiversity,
vulnerability, tourism, and the perceptions of coastal communities.
A current problem for developing the simulator is the capture of
important data about coastal geomorphology in light of sea level
rise and climate change. Geomorphology studies the development
of landscapes and landforms, and its timescales are long-term,
spanning from decades to centuries.

© M Robinson
Professor Robert Nicholls from Middlesex University’s Flood
Hazards Research Centre is leading a group of geomorphologists
who are working with the Tyndall Centre’s Regional Coastal
Simulator team. Together, they are identifying and defining a range
Professor Robert Nicholls and colleagues are identifying and defining a
of possible morphological states and shapes for the coastline, and range of possible morphological states and shapes for the coastline, and
the probabilities of those future states. The aim is to integrate and the statistical probabilities of those future states, to inform the
adapt existing and emerging ideas on the development of coastal understanding of the Tyndall Centre’s regional coastal simulator
morphology into an explanatory framework for the simulator. The
objective is to describe different behaviours of the coastal
morphology, rather than geographic details of change. They are
considering open coast as well as sheltered estuary areas.

The approach is being demonstrated for the East Anglian coast,

but the resulting methods are also applicable elsewhere. Towards
the end of the project, a workshop is drawing together academic
and coastal management communities to encourage participant
feedback for incorporating into the final results.

More information Useful Websites

Contact the lead investigator of Project T3.42 (Capturing geomorphological Tyndall Centre’s Sustaining the Coastal Zone research theme
change in the coastal simulator): www.tyndall.ac.uk/research/theme4/theme4.shtml
Professor Robert Nicholls
Tyndall Centre’s Integrated Regional Coastal Simulator
Flood Hazard Research Centre
www.tyndall.ac.uk/research/theme4/theme4_flagship.shtml
University of Middlesex
Enfield EN3 4SF Tyndall Centre’s Calculating the Costs and Benefits of Managed
Tel: 0208 3625569 Realignment www.tyndall.ac.uk/publications/fact_sheets/t2_41.shtml
r.nicholls@mdx.ac.uk
FutureCOAST www.defra.gov.uk/environ/fcd/research/futurecoast.htm
Other researchers involved in this project are: Coastal and Estuarine Research Unit www.geog.ucl.ac.uk/ceru
Dr Tom Spencer, Cambridge Coastal Research Centre, University of
Cambridge Flood Hazard Research Centre www.fhrc.mdx.ac.uk/contents.html
Dr Jon French, Coastal and Estuarine Research Unit, University College
Cambridge Coastal Research Unit http://ccru.geog.cam.ac.uk
London
Dr John Rees and Dr Peter Balson, Coastal Geoscience and Global Change, British Geological Survey www.bgs.ac.uk
British Geological Survey
Dr Iain Brown, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Project duration:
Dr Susan Hanson, Flood Hazard Research Centre, University of Middlesex September 2003 – January 2005

Round 3