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'''Sand Dunes in Europe
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'''Gravel Beaches'''
  
[[Image:Yellow_dune.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''Figure 3''': Yellow dune, with Marram Grass and Sand Couch, Wales, UK. Copyright J Pat Doody]]This article provides an introduction to the coastal sand dune habitat, focusing on the biodiversity of coastal [[Dune|sand dunes]] in Europe. It also includes links to more detailed reports on individual countries prepared as part of a revised 'Sand Dune Inventory of Europe' (Doody ed. 1991)
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[[Image:Sediment supply from soft cliffs.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Sediment supply from soft cliffs <br> © A. J. Chadwick]]
  
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Gravel beaches are widespread around the world, including the USA, Canada, Japan, Argentina, New Zealand and the wave dominated coastlines of Northern Europe <ref name="Buscome 2006">Buscome D., Masselink G. (2006). Concepts in gravel beach dynamics. Earth science Reviews 79 33-52.</ref>. In the UK, about one third of the coastline is protected by such beaches <ref name ="Fuller 1988">Fuller, R. M. & Randall, R. E. (1988).  The Orford Shingles, Suffolk, UK. Classic conflicts in coastline management.  Biological conservation. </ref>.
  
 
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In coastal defence schemes, considerable use is made of coarse-grained (gravel) sediment to replenish [[Coast erosion|eroding beaches]], often in conjunction with structures such as rock or wooden [[groynes]] or offshore breakwaters. This is because such beaches are known to be an efficient form of natural coastal defence <ref name="powel 1990">Powell, K. A. (1990). Predicting short term profile response for shingle beaches. HR Wallingford Report SR 219. </ref><ref name ="Diserens">Diserens, A. P. & Coates, T. T. (1993). UK South Coast shingle beach study: storm response of shingle beaches.  HR Wallingford Report SR 323.</ref>. Two examples from the UK are those at Sidmouth, Devon and Elmer, West Sussex...
==Introduction==
 
Coastal sand dunes develop on coastlines with an adequate supply of material within the size range 0.2-2.0mms. The critical factor is the availability of a sufficiently large beach, which dries out at low tide and where sand grains are blown onto the land by the action of the wind.Sand dunes occur in many parts of the World, along coasts and in deserts. In most locations in the temperate regions of the world, vegetation plays an important role in the growth of the typical dune landscape, which is so familiar to anyone visiting the 'seaside', by facilitating the accumulation of sediment. In Europe [[European Sand Dune Distribution|sand dunes border]] long stretches of the coastline...
 

Revision as of 13:53, 29 August 2012

Gravel Beaches

Sediment supply from soft cliffs
© A. J. Chadwick

Gravel beaches are widespread around the world, including the USA, Canada, Japan, Argentina, New Zealand and the wave dominated coastlines of Northern Europe [1]. In the UK, about one third of the coastline is protected by such beaches [2].

In coastal defence schemes, considerable use is made of coarse-grained (gravel) sediment to replenish eroding beaches, often in conjunction with structures such as rock or wooden groynes or offshore breakwaters. This is because such beaches are known to be an efficient form of natural coastal defence [3][4]. Two examples from the UK are those at Sidmouth, Devon and Elmer, West Sussex...
  1. Buscome D., Masselink G. (2006). Concepts in gravel beach dynamics. Earth science Reviews 79 33-52.
  2. Fuller, R. M. & Randall, R. E. (1988). The Orford Shingles, Suffolk, UK. Classic conflicts in coastline management. Biological conservation.
  3. Powell, K. A. (1990). Predicting short term profile response for shingle beaches. HR Wallingford Report SR 219.
  4. Diserens, A. P. & Coates, T. T. (1993). UK South Coast shingle beach study: storm response of shingle beaches. HR Wallingford Report SR 323.