Abstract
Coastal erosion is a problem of increasing concern that affects 60% of the world's sandy coastline1. This erosion has been attributed to increased storminess, tectonic subsidence, eustatic sea-level rise, decreased shoreward sediment movement from the shelf, permanent longshore leakage of sediment from beach compartments, shifts in global pressure belts resulting in changes in the directional component of wave climates, and human interference2,3. No one explanation has worldwide applicability because all factors vary in importance regionally. Evaluation of factors is complicated by a lack of accurate, continuous, long-term erosional data. Historical map evidence spanning 100–1,000 yr has been used in a few isolated areas4–7; however, temporal resolution has not been sufficient to evaluate the effect of climatic variables. Air photographic evidence8 is restricted to the past 40 yr, and often suffers from insufficient ground control for accurate mapping over time. Ground surveying of beaches was rarely carried out before 1960 and is often discontinuous in time and space. I have resolved the problems of temporal and spatial continuity by studying change for the whole of Stanwell Park beach, New South Wales, Australia for the period 1895–1980 (Fig. 1). I report here that using the average high-tide wave run-up position measured accurate to ±2.5 m from oblique and vertical photographs, changes could be linked to regional sea-level variation and a globally significant climatic variable, the Southern Oscillation (SO).
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bird, E. C. F. Rep. int. Geogr. Union Comm. on coast. Envir. 1976–1980, 5–30 (1981).
Bird, E. C. F. Geogr. Phys. Quat. 2, 241–244 (1981).
Bryant, E. A. Aust. Geogr. 17 (in the press).
Steers, J. A. Scolt Head Island (Heffers, Cambridge, 1960).
King, C. A. M. Beaches and Coasts 2nd edn (Arnold, London, 1972).
Bryant, E. A. & McCann, S. B. Can. J. Earth Sci. 10, 1582–1590 (1973).
Bird, E. C. F. Aarhus Universitet Skrifter I Fysisk Geogr., 8 (1974).
Shepard, F. P. & Wanless, H. R. Our Changing Coastline (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1971).
Lawson, N. V. & Abernethy, C. C. Proc. 2nd. Aust. Conf. Coast. Ocean Engng 167–176 (1975).
Kreider, J. F. & Kreith, F. Solar Heating and Cooling (Hemisphere, Washington, 1977).
Marzan, G. T. & Karara, H. M. Proc. Symp. Close-range Photogramm. Systems 420–476 (American Society of Photogrammetry, 1975).
Chapman, D. M., Geary, M., Roy, P. S. & Thorn, B. G. Coastal Evolution and Erosion in New South Wales (Coastal Council, Sydney, 1982).
Bryson, R. A. & Murray, T. J. Climates of Hunger: Mankind and the World's Changing Weather (Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1977).
Gribbin, J. (ed.) Climatic Change (Cambridge University Press, 1978).
Hayden, B. P. Science 190, 981–983 (1975).
Coughlan, M. J. in Climatic Change and Variability: a Southern Perspective, 194–199 (Cambridge University Press, 1978).
Pittock, A. B. Search 6, 498–504 (1975).
Cornish, D. M. Search 8, 38–40 (1977).
Dury, G. Aust. Geogr. Stud. 18, 62–78 (1980).
Trenberth, K. E. Q. Jl. R. met. Soc. 102, 65–75 (1976).
Riley, S. J. Abstr. Aust. Geomorph. Conf. (University of Wollongong, 1982).
Erskine, W. & Bell, F. C. Aust. Geogr. Stud. 20, 183–196 (1982).
Wright, P. B. clim. Res. Unit Rep. CRU-RP4, Norwich (1975).
Pittock, A. B. Q. Jl. R. Met. Soc. 99, 424–437 (1973).
Edwards, P. R. C.S.I.R.O. Div. Fish. Oceanogr. Rep. No. 88 (1979).
Schwartz, M. L. J. Geol. 75, 76–92 (1967).
Dubois, R. N. J. Geol. 85, 470–475 (1977).
Rosen, P. S. Mar. Geol. 26, M7–M16 (1978).
Grant, U. S. J. mar. Res. 7, 655–660 (1948).
Lanyon, J. A., Eliot, I. G. & Clarke, D. J. Aust. J. mar. freshwat. Res. 33, 377–400 (1982).
Eliot, I. G. & Clarke, D. J. Search 13, 205–207 (1982).
Chappell, J., Eliot, I. G., Bradshaw, M. P. & Lonsdale, E. Engng Geol. 14, 29–41 (1979).
Angell, J. K. Mon. Weath. Rev. 109, 230–243 (1981).
Thorn, B. G. in Time Space and Landforms in Australia, 197–214 (Australian National Press, Canberra, 1978).
Morner, N-A. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimtol. Palaeoecol. 13, 1–14 (1973).
Walcott, R. I. EOS 56, 62–72 (1975).
Provis, D. G. & Radok, R. Aust. J. mar. freshwat. Res. 30, 295–301 (1979).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bryant, E. Regional sea level, Southern Oscillation and beach change, New South Wales, Australia. Nature 305, 213–216 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/305213a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/305213a0
This article is cited by
-
Extreme oceanographic forcing and coastal response due to the 2015–2016 El Niño
Nature Communications (2017)
-
Coastal vulnerability across the Pacific dominated by El Niño/Southern Oscillation
Nature Geoscience (2015)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
