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Abstract: Erosion of hard‐rock coastal cliffs is understood to be caused by a combination of both marine and sub‐aerial processes. Beach morphology, tidal elevation and significant wave heights, especially under extreme storm conditions, can lead to variability in wave energy flux to the cliff‐toe. Wave and water level measurements in the nearshore under energetic conditions are difficult to obtain and in situ observations are rare. Here we use monthly cliff‐face volume changes detected using terrestrial laser scanning alongside beach morphological changes and modelled nearshore hydrodynamics to examine how exposed cliffs respond to changes in extreme wave conditions and beach morphology. The measurements cover the North Atlantic storms of 2013 to 2014 and consider two exposed stretches of coastline (Porthleven and Godrevy, UK) with contrasting beach morphology fronting the cliffs; a flat dissipative sandy beach at Godrevy and a steep reflective gravel beach at Porthleven. Beach slope and the elevation of the beach–cliff junction were found to influence the frequency of cliff inundation and the power of wave–cliff impacts. Numerical modelling (XBeach‐G) showed that under highly energetic wave conditions, i.e. those that occurred in the North Atlantic during winter 2013–2014, with Hs = 5.5 m (dissipative site) and 8 m (reflective site), the combination of greater wave height and steeper beach at the reflective site led to amplified wave run‐up, subjecting these cliffs to waves over four times as powerful as those impacting the cliffs at the dissipative site (39 kWm‐1 compared with 9 kWm‐1). This study highlighted the sensitivity of cliff erosion to extreme wave conditions, where the majority (over 90% of the annual value) of cliff‐face erosion ensued during the winter. The significance of these short‐term erosion rates in the context of long‐term retreat illustrates the importance of incorporating short‐term beach and wave dynamics into geomorphological studies of coastal cliff change. © 2017 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 69-year (1948–2017) numerical weather and wave hindcast is used to investigate the interannual variability and trend of winter wave height along the west coast of Europe. Results show that the winter-mean wave height, variability, and periodicity all increased significantly in the northeast Atlantic over the last seven decades which primarily correlate with changes in the climate indices North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and West Europe Pressure Anomaly (WEPA) affecting atmospheric circulation in the North Atlantic. NAO and WEPA primarily explain the increase in winter-mean wave height and periodicity, respectively, while both WEPA and NAO explain the increase in interannual variability. This increase in trend, variability, and periodicity resulted in more frequent high-energy winters with high NAO and/or WEPA over the last decades. The ability of climate models to predict the winter NAO and WEPA indices a few months ahead will be crucial to anticipate coastal hazards in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The autocorrelation technique for estimating grain-size from digital images of sand beds has been extended and validated for use on coarse sand (0·7 mm) and gravel (up to ∼20 mm). A number of aspects of the technique have been explored and some potential improvements suggested. Autocorrelation is just one suitable statistical method sensitive to the grain-size of sediment in digital images; four additional techniques are presented and their relative merits discussed. A collective suite of techniques applicable to the general problem of grain-size estimation from digital images of sediment might broaden the applicability to more sedimentary environments, as well as improve its accuracy. These techniques are compared using a large data set from a gravel barrier beach in southern England. Based on over 180 samples, mean grain-size of sieved and imaged sediments correspond to within between 8% and 16%. Some theoretical aspects of the spatial arrangement of image intensity in digital images of natural sediments are addressed, including the fractal nature of sediments in images, which has potential implications for derivation of grain-size distributions from images of sand-sized material through segmentation and thresholding. The methods outlined in this contribution may also find application in further uncovering the geometric structure of sediment beds, as well as in the simulation of sedimentation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rigorous test is presented of the application of sediment trend models to an intertidal beach environment characterized by bar morphology. Sediment samples were collected during low tide from a regular grid and their sediment fall velocity distributions, obtained using a settling tube, were analysed using moment analysis. The net sediment transport direction determined from beach surveys, hydrodynamic measurements, wave ripple observations and sediment transport modelling was compared with predictions by sediment trend models based on the spatial distribution of sediment parameters. It was found that the sediment transport pathways and patterns of sedimentation predicted using sediment trend models were at odds with field observations, and varied significantly depending on whether surface or sub-surface sediment samples were used. The sediment trend models are thought to fail because, in energetic and morphologically variable beach environments, spatial patterns in sediment characteristics are mainly attributed to the presence of different hydrodynamic regions and associated morphology, rather than sediment pathways. The use of sediment trend models cannot replace the collection of morphological, hydrodynamic and sediment transport data in the field to define relationships between flows, forms and sedimentation patterns on a dynamic intertidal beach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the morphological and sedimentological evolution of a macrotidal beach over a 20 day period under varying hydrodynamic conditions (significant breaker heights of 0·3–2 m and tidal ranges of 2–5 m). During the field campaign, an intertidal bar developed around the mid-tide level, migrated onshore, welded to the upper beach and was then flattened under energetic wave conditions. The bar had a wave breakpoint origin and its formation was triggered by a reduction in tidal range, causing more stationary water-level conditions, rather than an increase in wave height. Most of the onshore bar migration took place while the bar was positioned in the inner to mid-surf zone position, such that the bar moved away from the breakpoint and exhibited ‘divergent’ behaviour. The depth of disturbance over individual tidal cycles was 10–20% of the breaker height. Such values are more typical of steep reflective beaches, than gently sloping, dissipative beaches, and are considered to reflect the maximum height of wave-generated ripples. The grain size distribution of surficial sediments did not vary consistently across the beach profile and temporal changes in the sedimentology were mostly unrelated to the morphological response. The lack of clear links between beach morphology and sedimentology may be in part due to shortcomings in the sampling methodology, which ignored the vertical variability in the sediment size characteristics across the active layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple intertidal bars and troughs, often referred to as 'ridges and runnels', are significant features on many macrotidal sandy beaches. Along the coastline of England and Wales, they are particularly prevalent in the vicinity of estuaries, where the nearshore gradient is gentle and a large surplus of sediment is generally present. This paper examines the dynamics of such bar systems along the north Lincolnshire coast. A digital elevation model of the intertidal morphology obtained using LIDAR demonstrates that three to five intertidal bars are consistently present with a spacing of approximately 100 m. The largest and most pronounced bars (height = 0.5-0.8 m) are found around mean sea level, whereas the least developed bars (height = 0.2-.0.5 m) occur in the lower intertidal zone. Annual aerial photographs of the intertidal bar morphology were inspected to try to track individual bars from year to year to derive bar migration rates; however, there is little resemblance between concurrent photographs, and 'resetting' of the intertidal profile occurs on an annual basis. Three-dimensional beach surveys were conducted monthly at three locations along the north Lincolnshire coast over a one-year period. The intertidal bar morphology responds strongly to the seasonal variation in the forcing conditions, and bars are least numerous and flattest during the more energetic winter months. Morphological changes over the monthly time scale are strongly affected by longshore sediment transport processes and the intertidal bar morphology can migrate along the beach at rates of up to 30 m per month. The behaviour of intertidal bars is complex and varies over a range of spatial and temporal scales in response to a combination of forcing factors (e.g. incident wave energy, different types of wave processes, longshore and cross-shore sediment transport), relaxation time and morphodynamic feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies devoted to the morphology and hydrodynamics of ridge and runnel beaches highlight characteristics that deviate from those initially postulated by King and Williams (Geographical Journal, 1949, vol. 113, 70-85) and King (Beaches and Coasts, 1972, Edward Arnold). Disagreements on the morphodynamics of these macrotidal beaches include the position of the ridges relative to the mean neap and spring tide levels, the variation in the height of the ridges across the intertidal profile and, most importantly, whether the ridges are formed by swash or surf zone processes. The morphological characteristics of ridge and runnel beaches from three locations with varying wave, tidal and geomorphic settings were investigated to address these disagreements. Beach profiles from each site were analysed together with water-level data collected from neighbouring ports. It was found that the ridges occur over the entire intertidal zone. On one site (north Lincolnshire, east England), the ridges are uniformly distributed over the intertidal beach, whereas on the two other sites (Blackpool beach, northwest England, and Leffrinckoucke beach, north France) there is some indication that the ridges appear to occur at preferential locations. Most significantly, the locations of the ridge crests were found to be unrelated to the positions on the intertidal profile wherethe water level is stationary for the longest time. It was further found that the highest ridges generally occur just above mid-tide level where tidal non-stationarity is greatest. These findings argue against the hypothesis that the ridges are formed by swash processes acting at stationary tide levels. It is tentatively suggested that the ridges are the result of a combination of swash and surf zone processesacting across the intertidal zone. Elucidation of the morphodynamic roles of these two types of processes, and other processes such as strong current flows in the runnels, requires further comprehensive field [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The variation in beach cusp characteristics was examined along a 1 km long embayed beach (Pearl Beach, New South Wales, Australia). The beach cusp morphology had formed during the previous day and/or night and displayed a marked alongshore variation in cusp spacing. The edgewave mechanism of beach cusp formation could not account for the observed trend in cusp spacing, because no relationship could be established between the spacing of the cusps and the gradient of the beachface. On the other hand, the cusp spacing was strongly related to the horizontal swash excursion, providing some support for the self-organization model of beach cusp formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detailed measurements of three-dimensional beach cusp morphology were made on a steep gradient, low energy, microtidal beach in Perth, Western Australia. During the field campaign a variety of wave conditions and tidal ranges were experienced, and these differing hydrodynamic conditions were reflected in a consistent pattern of morphological changes to the beach cusp system. A useful parameter to delineate between trends of cusp destruction and re-formation appeared to be the surf similarity parameter Delta= tan Beta/GammaI0/L0, where H0 is offshore wave height, L0 is deep water wave length and tan Beta is beach gradient. For Delta< 172 the beach cusps were planed off, whereas cusp morphology was enhancedwhen Delta> 172. A small storm was experienced at the start of the field campaign period and resulted in considerable erosion of the beach face. The cusp morphology across the lower beach face was destroyed, but a subtle remnant of the pre-storm cusp morphology was preservedon the upper beach face. When cusps reformed after the storm, under the influence of declining wave conditions, they appeared at the samelocation and with the same dimensions as the pre-storm cusp morphology. Hence, it is considered that the cusp re-formation was controlledmore by the antecedent morphology than the hydrodynamic conditions. This indicates that positive feedback between swash hydrodynamics andbeach face morphology, necessary to form beach cusps, does not require a large variation in relief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]