Role of atmospheric indices in describing shoreline variability along
the Atlantic coast of Europe
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.