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Role of atmospheric indices in describing shoreline variability along the Atlantic coast of Europe
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  • Gerhard Masselink,
  • Bruno Castelle,
  • Timothy Scott,
  • Aikaterini Konstantinou
Gerhard Masselink
Plymouth University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Bruno Castelle
CNRS, Université de Bordeaux
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Timothy Scott
University of Plymouth
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Aikaterini Konstantinou
University of Plymouth
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Abstract

Beaches are highly variable environments and respond to changes in wave forcing, themselves modulated by climate variability. Here, we analyse three high-quality beach profile datasets to robustly investigate, for the first time, the link between shoreline change, wave forcing and climate variability along the Atlantic coast of Europe. Winter wave conditions are strongly associated with North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Western Europe Pressure Anomaly (WEPA), with WEPA explaining 50–80% of the winter wave power variability. Shoreline variability during winter is also strongly linked to NAO and WEPA, with WEPA explaining 25% of the winter shoreline variability. Winter wave conditions and associated shoreline variability are both unrelated to El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO). In addition to the atmospherically-forced beach morphological response, shoreline change also depends strongly on the antecedent conditions as evidenced by significant correlations between summer/winter shoreline response and the shoreline position at the start of each season.
23 Aug 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
24 Aug 2023Published in ESS Open Archive