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Key research themes
1. What are the dominant natural and anthropogenic drivers of beach and dune erosion, and how can interventions be planned effectively?
This theme investigates the complex interplay of natural forces (e.g., sea storms, wave climate, river dynamics) and human activities (e.g., construction, hydraulic structures) in causing erosion of beach-dune systems. Understanding these causes is crucial to developing tailored management and intervention strategies that balance environmental, archaeological, and coastal defense needs.
Key finding: This comprehensive case study applied multi-factor analysis incorporating anthropogenic pressure, wave climate, sea storms, and river dynamics to identify the causes of erosion at the Kaulon archaeological site on the Ionian... Read more
Key finding: This study foregrounded the principle of Intervention Concerning the Erosion Causes (ICEC), advocating for a holistic coastal erosion management approach that integrates offshore, shore, and inland environmental processes. By... Read more
Key finding: Synthesizing multi-disciplinary analyses from variable geographic and climatic coastal systems, this editorial highlighted the importance of combining detailed monitoring, advanced remote sensing, and numerical modeling to... Read more
Key finding: This research overview emphasized the necessity of integrating natural and anthropogenic factors influencing coastal and riverine dynamics in erosion risk assessment. It discussed advances in remote sensing and GIS for... Read more
2. How do human activities such as ship wakes and shoreline hardening influence marine erosion and shoreline morphology?
This theme focuses on specific anthropogenic factors like vessel-induced wakes and engineered coastal armoring, analyzing their role in accelerating erosion and altering sediment dynamics. Understanding these influences is critical to developing mitigation strategies that balance maritime commerce, coastal protection, and habitat conservation.
Key finding: Through combined in-situ surveys and GIS-based remote sensing over a 40-year period in the Venice Lagoon, this study demonstrated that ship-generated depression wakes substantially increase shoreline retreat rates (up to 3-4... Read more
Key finding: Analyzing 26 restoration projects in the Salish Sea, USA, this work showed that the ecological effectiveness of armor removal (hard structure removal) depends strongly on larger-scale coastal geomorphology, including landform... Read more
Key finding: Focused on an estuarine coastal forest threatened by erosion at Fire Island, New York, this study evaluated the performance and limits of targeted beach nourishment using dredged sediment. It found that nourishment... Read more
Key finding: This work documented that anthropogenic disturbances (e.g., cultivation, sand extraction, vehicle damage), in combination with natural processes like storm waves and aeolian forces, exacerbate dune and shoreline erosion... Read more
3. What are the methods and innovations in assessing and modeling coastal and marine erosion to inform risk management and mitigation?
This theme captures advances in monitoring technologies, numerical modeling, and integrated risk assessment frameworks designed to quantify marine erosion processes and forecast coastal vulnerability under climate change scenarios. These methodological innovations enable evidence-based decision making for coastal city management and ecosystem protection.
Key finding: Applying Neural Network (NARX-NN) methods combined with the Bruun shoreline retreat model within a GIS framework, this study quantitatively simulated sea-level rise-induced erosion along Malaysia's East Coast. It forecasted... Read more
Key finding: This seismic and geophysical investigation introduced a volumetric ratio (deposited volume to evacuated volume) framework to quantify erosivity of submarine slides, including the notably erosive Gorgon slide offshore... Read more
Key finding: Utilizing Landsat TM and ETM+ satellite imagery processed with GIS tools, the study documented that in the Niger Delta coastline between 1986 and 2003, erosion predominated over accretion, with 59.43% of changed area showing... Read more
Key finding: Through pioneering deployment of a benthic annular flume in situ, this study differentiated three erosion types on fine-grained sediments including biologically mediated surface erosion and deeper consolidated sediment... Read more
Key finding: This field experimental research quantified the morphodynamic evolution of beach scarps on a macrotidal sandy beach under storm surge and oblique wave attack using laser scanning and video analysis. It elucidated sediment... Read more