Abstract
Retreat and advance of shoreline position occurs naturally, and also as a result of defences which are constructed to prevent erosion and flooding. Retreat more commonly manifests itself down-drift of defences due to a sediment deficit causing the coast to become ‘set-back’. Advance normally develops due to sediment accumulation up-drift of a barrier inhibiting longshore drift, resulting in the coast becoming ‘set-forward’. Many examples of set-backs and set-forwards are recorded, but their location, number and cause is not known on a national scale. Using the Futurecoast aerial photographs, approximately 200 localities were identified as set-back or set-forward in England and Wales, with half situated in the Eastern and South East regions of England. Half of the total set-backs or set-forwards were on cliffed coasts, and half on low-lying coasts. Without local knowledge it is difficult to distinguish between set-backs and set-forwards. Set-backs often indicate higher retreat rates, thus threatening cliff-top infrastructure which requires defence upgrade and extensions, as well as raising maintenance costs. Monitoring set-backs is important for shoreline management, because as retreat continues, set-backs evolve and artificial headlands form and grow. This is reinforced by the shift from hard defence policies towards softer engineering approaches, managed realignment and limited intervention.
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Acknowledgements
SB is grateful for the receipt of an EPSRC funded studentship during the course of this research. Thanks are given to the anonymous reviewers whose comments helped improve this paper. Map outlines (Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 9) © Crown Copyright and Landmark Information Group Limited (2011). An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service. All rights reserved. http://edina.ac.uk/digimap
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Brown, S., Barton, M. & Nicholls, R. Coastal retreat and/or advance adjacent to defences in England and Wales. J Coast Conserv 15, 659–670 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-011-0159-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-011-0159-y