Skip to main content
Home

Information for:

  • Alumni
  • Applicants
  • Current Students
  • Staff
  • Parents
  • Job Vacancies
  • Covid-19
  • Cymraeg
My country:

Main Menu

    • Study Options
      • Study Home
      • Why Study at Bangor?
      • Undergraduate Study
      • Postgraduate Taught Study
      • Postgraduate Research
      • Part-time Courses
      • January Start Courses
      • Degree Apprenticeships
      • Study Abroad
      • Work Experience
    • Study Advice
      • Apply
      • Already Applied?
      • Fees and Finances
      • Scholarships and Bursaries
      • Get Ready for University
    • Explore Bangor
      • Open Days and Visits
      • Virtual Student Experience

    Find a Course

    Order a Prospectus

    • Student Life
      • Student Life Home
      • Bangor and the Area
      • Social Life and Entertainment
      • Accommodation
      • Clubs and Societies
      • Sport
      • Virtual Student Experience
    • Your Experience at Bangor
      • Student Support
      • Skills and Employability
      • Study or Work Abroad
      • Fees and Finances

    Student Profiles

    Student Videos and Vlogs

    • Choose Bangor
      • International Home
      • Why Bangor?
      • Location
      • Accommodation
      • Student Support
      • Contact Us
    • Apply
      • Entry Requirements
      • Tuition Fees and Scholarships
      • How to Apply
      • Already Applied
      • Study Abroad
      • Exchanges

    Country Specific Information

    Join us on a Virtual Open Day

    Bangor University International College

    Covid-19 Information

    • Research
      • Research Home
      • About Our Research
      • Research in our Academic Schools
      • Research Institutes and Centres
      • Research Portal
      • Research, Innovation and Impact Office (RIIO)
      • Energy
      • Research News
    • Postgraduate Research Opportunities
      • Postgraduate Research
      • Doctoral School
    • Events and Training Opportunities
      • Researcher Development
    • The University
      • About Us
      • Our Mission
      • Strategy 2030
      • Annual Review
      • Our Location
      • Academic Schools and Colleges
      • Services and Facilities
      • Vice Chancellor’s Office
      • Working with Business
      • Working with the Community
      • Sustainability
      • Health and Wellbeing
      • Contact Us
    • Working for Us
      • Job Vacancies
    • University Management and Governance
      • Policies and Procedures
      • Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement
      • Management and Governance
    • University and the Community
      • Pontio
      • Sports Facilities
      • Conference Facilities
      • Places to Eat and Drink
      • Public Events
      • Widening Access
      • Services to Schools
    • Business Services
      • Business Services Home
    • Collaboration Hub
      • Collaboration Hub
      • Funding for Collaborative Research and Development (R&D) & Innovation
      • Business Facilities and Networks
      • Consultancy, Specialist Expertise and Knowledge
      • Commercialisation and Intellectual Property (IP)
      • Student Placements and Internships in Business & Enterprise
      • Training and Continuing Professional Development
      • Degree Apprenticeships
    • Conferencing and Business Dining
      • Conferencing Facilities
      • Business Dining
    • Contacts
      • Research, Innovation and Impact Office (RIIO)
      • Get In Touch
    • News
      • Current News
      • Research News
      • Student News
    • Events
      • Events

    • Study Options
      • Study Home
      • Why Study at Bangor?
      • Undergraduate Study
      • Postgraduate Taught Study
      • Postgraduate Research
      • Part-time Courses
      • January Start Courses
      • Degree Apprenticeships
      • Study Abroad
      • Work Experience
    • Study Advice
      • Apply
      • Already Applied?
      • Fees and Finances
      • Scholarships and Bursaries
      • Get Ready for University
    • Explore Bangor
      • Virtual Open Days and Visits
      • Virtual Student Experience

    Find a Course

    Order a Prospectus

    • Student Life
      • Student Life Home
      • Bangor and the Area
      • Social Life and Entertainment
      • Accommodation
      • Clubs and Societies
      • Sport
      • Virtual Student Experience
    • Your Experience at Bangor
      • Student Support
      • Skills and Employability
      • Study or Work Abroad
      • Fees and Finances

    Student Profiles

    Student Videos and Vlogs

    • Choose Bangor
      • International Home
      • Why Bangor?
      • Location
      • Student Support
      • Contact Us
    • Apply
      • Entry Requirements
      • Tuition Fees and Scholarships
      • How to Apply
      • Already Applied
      • Study Abroad
      • Exchanges

    Country Specific Information

    Join us on a Virtual Open Day

    Bangor University International College

    Covid-19 Information

    • Research
      • Research Home
      • About Our Research
      • Research in our Academic Schools
      • Research Institutes and Centres
      • Research Portal
      • Research, Innovation and Impact Office (RIIO)
      • Energy
      • Research News
    • Postgraduate Research Opportunities
      • Postgraduate Research
      • Doctoral School
    • Events and Training Opportunities
      • Researcher Development
    • The University
      • About Us
      • Our Mission
      • Strategy 2030
      • Annual Review
      • Our Location
      • Academic Schools and Colleges
      • Services and Facilities
      • Vice Chancellor’s Office
      • Working with Business
      • Working with the Community
      • Sustainability
      • Health and Wellbeing
      • Contact Us
    • Working for Us
      • Job Vacancies
    • University Management and Governance
      • Policies and Procedures
      • Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement
      • Management and Governance
    • University and the Community
      • Pontio
      • Sports Facilities
      • Conference Facilities
      • Places to Eat and Drink
      • Public Events
      • Widening Access
      • Services to Schools
    • Business Services
      • Business Services Home
    • Collaboration Hub
      • Collaboration Hub
      • Funding for Collaborative Research and Development (R&D) & Innovation
      • Business Facilities and Networks
      • Consultancy, Specialist Expertise and Knowledge
      • Commercialisation and Intellectual Property (IP)
      • Student Placements and Internships in Business & Enterprise
      • Training and Continuing Professional Development
      • Degree Apprenticeships
    • Conferencing and Business Dining
      • Conferencing Facilities
      • Business Dining
    • Contacts
      • Research, Innovation and Impact Office (RIIO)
      • Get In Touch
    • News
      • Current News
      • Research News
      • Student News
    • Events
      • Events

Information for:

  • Alumni
  • Applicants
  • Current Students
  • Staff
  • Parents
  • Job Vacancies
  • Covid-19
My country:

Search

Close

Breadcrumb

  • Cymraeg

Share this page:
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

Project Investigators

  • Dr Martin Austin
  • Dr Jaco Baas
  • Prof Colin Jago

Coastal Dynamics and Erosion

Nearshore sediment exchange

The coastal boundary zone is critical for transfers of sediments and particulate biogeochemical components. Oceanographic forcing across this region causes significant mobilisation and transport of seabed sediments, particularly during energetic winters such as the exemplary 2013/14. Increased storminess due to climate change will significantly impact the shoreface but the governing processes are poorly understood compared with the adjacent inner-shelf and foreshore.

The shoreface is mainly affected by shoaling waves and tidal currents, but recent work indicates that cross-shelf currents, and breaking waves during storms, may be additional important factors. These generate complex benthic boundary layer dynamics at the interface between shelf-sea oceanography and nearshore coastal-processes, facilitating sediment storage, large-scale cross/alongshore sediment transport, and its removal from nearshore sediment cells and beaches.

Work by the Coastal Dynamics and Erosion group is addressing this knowledge gap to enable better understanding and prediction of the coastal impact of large storms and sea-level rise – the availability of sediments and the development of coastal morphology are key factors in coastline protection and, increasingly, the construction and grid-connection of marine renewable energy infrastructure. [Nest frame image]

Rip currents and surf-zone circulation

Rip currents are seaward-directed flows of water driven by breaking waves that originate close to the shoreline and extend seaward across the surf zone, and beyond. Thousands of people drown on beaches worldwide annually and hundreds of thousands more are rescued, mostly because of rip currents. In the UK, RNLI lifeguards report that rip currents are responsible for two-thirds of all water-based incidents that they respond to, and a similar percentage is reported from the USA and Australia. Annual rip current related fatalities exceed 100 in the USA and 20 in Australia.

Furthermore, rip current circulation provides the primary mechanism for flushing the surf zone and therefore affect the marine environment by controlling the mixing and dispersion of nutrients and pollutants from the surf zone to the inner-shelf.

Nearshore cell circulation is driven by incident wave energy dissipation through the generation of cross-shore and alongshore gradients in the radiation stress and the mean nearshore water level. At a qualitative level this theoretical underpinning is reasonably well understood, but in practice it remains problematic to predict exactly when, and under what morphodynamic conditions, rip currents are at their strongest and pose the largest threat to surf zone water users. Two recent research projects (DRIBS and TOPORIP) funded by NERC, RNLI and the Met Office examine the dynamics of rip currents and the implications for beach safety on open coast and engineered beaches, respectively.

Wave attenuation

Rocky coastlines are generally characterised by cliffs fronted by intertidal shore platforms. These rocky shore platforms tend to be gently-sloping and they invariably represent hydrodynamically very rough surfaces. Cliffs and shore platforms are linked dynamically because the platform directly controls the transformation of waves propagating across it, and thus the delivery of energy to the cliffs. Our overarching hypothesis is that the transformation of the wave spectrum across shore platforms is primarily controlled by the elevation, gradient and width of the platform, and the physical roughness of its surface.

Observational data is used to quantify wave energy dissipation by bed friction and wave breaking, and the dissipation rate is used to determine the wave friction factors. In turn, the obtained wave friction factors are correlated to the roughness of the shore platform surface related to the overall morphology and micro-topography as measured using a 3D terrestrial laser scanner.

The improved wave friction parameterisation is being implemented in the open-source XBeach numerical model, and the model is being used at a number of sites to evaluate the effect of changing sea level to the wave energy delivery to the cliff base to explore the potential effect of rising sea level on coastal cliff recession.

Suspended particulate dynamics

The majority of terrestrially derived suspended particulate matter (SPM) is transported to the open ocean by rivers; therefore, the river estuary transition zone (RETZ) represents a globally significant boundary separating the riverine and coastal regimes. The fate of SPM in the RETZ depends on its physical properties which are likely to be extremely variable. The RETZ is characterised by large temporal and spatial gradients in hydrodynamic properties. Therefore, quantifying SPM properties in relation to physical forcing is key to determining the transfer flux of SPM from the catchment to the coastal ocean. One of the aims of this research group is to determine the relationship between floc properties and the turbulence regime in the RETZ of tidally dominated estuaries over tidal, lunar and seasonal temporal scales.



Flocs are fragile in nature and their properties fluctuate on short spatial and temporal
scales; therefore in situ optical instruments (LISST-100X, LISST-HOLO and transmissometer) are deployed in the RETZ to obtain volume concentrations, mass concentrations, shape, area and indicate biological components of SPM. Turbulence measurements are determined via acoustic methods; ADCP and ADVs are deployed near to the bed to estimate TKE dissipation rates relating to floc measurements.



Diurnal and semi-diurnal signals in floc properties can be observed in the RETZ, including resuspension signals coinciding with peak flows and flocculation signals corresponding with low turbulence conditions. Turbulence dissipation as been found to scale with SPM properties on a tidal scale, however this relationship can be modified during periods of increased fluvial influence. Tidal and lunar variations of particle properties in the RETZ have been observed at all seasons sampled. SPM flux in the RETZ showed net seaward transport of coarse and fine particles. Furthermore, during the river flood event (Figure), the seaward flux of both coarse and fine particles was an order of magnitude greater than during normal river flow conditions for a macrotidal estuary.



The RETZ is a complex environment to study however it is essential to gain understanding and quantify the relative importance of hydrodynamic and biological implications controlling SPM characteristics and thus the fate of the transfer of terrestrially derived organic matter to the coastal ocean.

Recent Research Grants

2014 – 16: EP/L025191/1 EPSRC Standard Grant: Waves across shore platforms. PI: Prof Gerd Masselink (Plymouth), co-PI: Dr Martin Austin (Bangor). Total funds: £422K.

2014 - 2015: Welsh European Funding Office: Periodic cross-shelf sediment exchange around a tidal turbine site. PI Dr Martin Austin (Bangor), CI: Prof Colin Jago (Bangor). Total funds: £100K.

2013 - 15: RNLI and Met Office: Rip currents around coastal structures. PI: Dr Tim Scott (Plymouth), co-PI: Dr Martin Austin (Bangor). Total funds: £100K.

2013 - 2015: EU Hydralab: Barrier dynamics experiment 2. PI Prof Gerd Masselink (Plymouth), CI: Dr Ian Turner (UNSW), CI: Dr Jack Puleo (Delaware), CI: Dr Martin Austin (Bangor). Total funds: £250K.

Home

About Us

Academic Schools and Colleges

  • School of Ocean Sciences
    • Home
    • About the School
      • What is Ocean Science?
      • Our Staff
      • Facilities
      • Research Vessel ‘Prince Madog’
      • Our Location
      • Bangor & the Area
      • Visitor Accommodation
      • Equality and Diversity
      • Virtual Tour
      • Centre for Applied Marine Sciences
      • School Brochure (PDF)
    • Our Staff
    • Undergraduate Study
      • Introduction
      • Order a prospectus
      • University Open Days
      • Offer Holder Days
      • Why Study at Bangor?
      • Accommodation
      • Get ready for University
      • Student Life
      • Scholarships & Bursaries
      • Fees & Finances
      • School Brochure (PDF)
      • Student Profiles
    • Postgraduate Study
      • Modules
      • Why study with us?
      • Register your interest in postgraduate study
      • Fees & Finances
      • Scholarships & Funding
      • Entry requirements
      • Applying to Bangor
      • Accommodation
      • Student Support
      • Student Life
      • Studying at Bangor
      • School Brochure (PDF)
      • Student Profiles
      • Alumni profiles
    • Order a Prospectus
    • School Brochure (PDF)
    • Open Days
    • Our Research
      • Research degrees
      • Our staff
      • Centre for Applied Marine Sciences
    • Centre for Applied Marine Sciences
    • Research Vessel ‘Prince Madog’
    • Alumni
      • Sign-up to SOSA
      • Newsletter
      • Reunions
      • Alumni profiles
    • News
    • Videos
    • Contact us
Home

Follow Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn

Bangor University

Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DG, UK

+44 (0)1248 351151

Contact Us

Visit Us

Maps & Directions

Policy

  • Legal Compliance
  • Modern Slavery Act 2015 Statement
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Privacy and Cookies
  • Welsh Language Policy
Map

Bangor University is a Registered Charity: No. 1141565

© 2020 Bangor University