Coastal management
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Coastal management is defence against flooding and erosion, and techniques that stop erosion to claim lands. Protection against rising sea levels in the 21st century is crucial, as sea level rise accelerates due to climate change. Changes in sea level damage beaches and coastal systems are expected to rise at an increasing rate, causing coastal sediments to be disturbed by tidal energy.
Oosterscheldekering sea wall, the Netherlands.
Groyne at Mundesley, Norfolk, UK
Cement beach reinforcements in on the coast of Alexandria, Egypt to prevent further erosion of coastline that is vulnerable to subsidence.
Figure 1. A diagram representing the spatial relationship between many of the commonly used indicators.
Longshore drift
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Longshore drift from longshore current is a geological process that consists of the transportation of sediments along a coast parallel to the shoreline, which is dependent on the angle of incoming wave direction. Oblique incoming wind squeezes water along the coast, and so generates a water current which moves parallel to the coast. Longshore drift is simply the sediment moved by the longshore current. This current and sediment movement occur within the surf zone. The process is also known as littoral drift.
Provincetown Spit, at the northern end of Cape Cod, was formed by longshore drift after the end of the last Ice age.
Timber groyne from Swanage Bay, UK
Picture showing the use of artificial headlands and detached breakwaters in a coastal system