Abstract

Sea level is rising due to climate change and is expected to influence the development and dynamics of coastal dunes. However, the anticipated changes to coastal dunes have not yet been demonstrated using field data. Here, we provide evidence of dune translation that is characterized by a linear increase of the dune toe elevation on the order of 13–15 mm/year during recent decades along the Dutch coast. This rate of increase is a remarkable 7–8 times greater than the measured sea level rise. The observed vertical dune toe translation coincides with seaward movement of the dune toe (i.e., progradation), which shows similarities to prograding coasts in the Holocene both along the Dutch coast and elsewhere. Thus, we suspect that other locations besides the Dutch coast might also show such large ratios between sea level rise and dune toe elevation increase. This phenomenon might significantly influence the expected impact of sea level rise and climate change adaptation measures.

Details

Title
Sea level rise outpaced by vertical dune toe translation on prograding coasts
Author
van IJzendoorn Christa O 1 ; de Vries Sierd 1 ; Hallin, Caroline 2 ; Hesp, Patrick A 3 

 Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.5292.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 2097 4740) 
 Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.5292.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 2097 4740); Lund University, Division of Water Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Lund, Sweden (GRID:grid.4514.4) (ISNI:0000 0001 0930 2361) 
 Flinders University, Beach and Dune Systems (BEADS) Laboratory, College of Science and Engineering, Bedford Park, Australia (GRID:grid.1014.4) (ISNI:0000 0004 0367 2697) 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2542127738
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.