Physical Modelling of Arctic Coastlines—Progress and Limitations

Korte, Sophia; Gieschen, Rebekka; Stolle, Jacob; Goseberg, Nils

doi:10.3390/w12082254

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 95 publications

(162 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Due to the computationally inexpensive and fast nature of ArcticBeach v1.0, our model can provide a quick and useful tool about which parameters (e.g., cliff height, ice content) are the most important in influencing the rate of cliff retreat. This can be particularly useful to help design experiments for physical wave tank models of partially frozen beach erosion (Korte et al, 2020). Sensitivity of erosion rates to changes in cliff parameters is high (Figures 10,11,12,13).…”

Section: The Impact Of Geomorphological Cliff and Beach Parameters On...mentioning

confidence: 99%

ArcticBeach v1.0: A physics-based parameterization of pan-Arctic coastline erosion

Rolph

Overduin²,

Ravens³

et al. 2022

Front. Earth Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the Arctic, air temperatures are increasing and sea ice is declining, resulting in larger waves and a longer open water season, all of which intensify the thaw and erosion of ice-rich coasts. Climate change has been shown to increase the rate of Arctic coastal erosion, causing problems for Arctic cultural heritage, existing industrial, military, and civil infrastructure, as well as changes in nearshore biogeochemistry. Numerical models that reproduce historical and project future Arctic erosion rates are necessary to understand how further climate change will affect these problems, and no such model yet exists to simulate the physics of erosion on a pan-Arctic scale. We have coupled a bathystrophic storm surge model to a simplified physical erosion model of a permafrost coastline. This Arctic erosion model, called ArcticBeach v1.0, is a first step toward a physical parameterization of Arctic shoreline erosion for larger-scale models. It is forced by wind speed and direction, wave period and height, sea surface temperature, all of which are masked during times of sea ice cover near the coastline. Model tuning requires observed historical retreat rates (at least one value), as well as rough nearshore bathymetry. These parameters are already available on a pan-Arctic scale. The model is validated at three study sites at 1) Drew Point (DP), Alaska, 2) Mamontovy Khayata (MK), Siberia, and 3) Veslebogen Cliffs, Svalbard. Simulated cumulative retreat rates for DP and MK respectively (169 and 170 m) over the time periods studied at each site (2007–2016, and 1995–2018) are found to the same order of magnitude as observed cumulative retreat (172 and 120 m). The rocky Veslebogen cliffs have small observed cumulative retreat rates (0.05 m over 2014–2016), and our model was also able to reproduce this same order of magnitude of retreat (0.08 m). Given the large differences in geomorphology between the study sites, this study provides a proof-of-concept that ArcticBeach v1.0 can be applied on very different permafrost coastlines. ArcticBeach v1.0 provides a promising starting point to project retreat of Arctic shorelines, or to evaluate historical retreat in places that have had few observations.

show abstract

Section: The Impact Of Geomorphological Cliff and Beach Parameters On...mentioning

confidence: 99%

ArcticBeach v1.0: A physics-based parameterization of pan-Arctic coastline erosion

Rolph

Overduin²,

Ravens³

et al. 2022

Front. Earth Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…cliff height, ice content) are the most important in influencing the rate of cliff retreat. This can be particularly useful to help design experiments for physical wave tank models of partially frozen beach erosion (Korte et al, 2020). Sensitivity of erosion rates to changes in cliff parameters is high .…”

Section: The Impact Of Geomorphological Cliff and Beach Parameters Onmentioning

confidence: 99%

ArcticBeach v1.0: A physics-based parameterization of pan-Arctic coastline erosion

Rolph

Overduin

Ravens

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. In the Arctic, air temperatures are warming and sea ice is declining, resulting in larger waves and a longer open water season, all of which intensify the thaw and erosion of ice-rich coasts. This change in climate has been shown to increase the rate of Arctic coastal erosion, causing problems for industrial, military, and civil infrastructure as well as changes in nearshore biogeochemistry. Numerical models that reproduce historical and project future Arctic erosion rates are necessary to understand how further climate change will affect these problems, and no such model yet exists to simulate the physics of erosion on a pan-Arctic scale. We have coupled a bathystrophic storm surge model to a simplified physical erosion model of a partially frozen cliff and beach. This Arctic erosion model, called ArcticBeach v1.0, is a first step toward a parameterization of Arctic shoreline erosion for larger-scale models, which are not able to resolve the fine spatial scale (up to about 40 m) needed to capture shoreline erosion rates from years to decades. It is forced by wind speeds and directions, wave period and height, sea surface temperature, all of which are masked during times of sea ice cover near the coastline. Model tuning requires observed historical retreat rates (at least one value), as well as rough nearshore bathymetry. These parameters are already available on a pan-Arctic scale. The model is validated at two study sites at Drew Point (DP), Alaska, and Mamontovy Khayata (MK), Siberia, which are respectively located in the Beaufort and Laptev Seas, on different sides of the Arctic Ocean. Simulated cumulative retreat rates for DP and MK respectively (169 and 170 m) over the time periods studied at each site (2007–2016, and 1995–2018) are found to be within the same order of magnitude as observed cumulative retreat rates (172 and 120 m). Given the large differences in geomorphology and weather systems between the two study sites, this study provides a proof-of-concept that ArcticBeach v1.0 can be applied on very different partially frozen coastlines. ArcticBeach v1.0 provides a promising starting point to project the retreat of Arctic shorelines, or to evaluate historical retreat in places that have had few observations. Further, this model can provide estimates of the flux of sediment from land to sea for Arctic nearshore biogeochemical studies, while leaving an opportunity for further development of modelling the physics of a partially frozen shoreline.

show abstract

“…The main coastal destructive processes on the Arctic coasts are thermoabrasion and thermodenudation [19,[21][22][23]. Coastal cliffs of Alaska and the Canadian part of the Beaufort Sea and eastern Russian Arctic, are exposed to active erosion, which entails virtually no beaches on the shore, and the retreat of the edge of the coastal ledges is associated with a "blocky" collapse of frozen rocks in permanent contact with sea water, resulting in niche formation [19,[23][24][25][26][27][28]. The coasts of the western Russian Arctic are composed of permafrost unconsolidated saline sediments [29,30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Snow Patches and Their Influence on Coastal Erosion at Baydaratskaya Bay Coast, Kara Sea, Russian Arctic

Bogatova

Buldovich

Khilimonyuk

2021

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Arctic coastal environment is a very dynamic system and sensitive to any changes. In our research we demonstrate that nivation (snow patch activity) impacts the Arctic landscape especially in the coastal dynamic at the western part of Russian Arctic. During fieldwork, snowbanks were described and studied and their qualitative role in the development of coastal systems was revealed for Baydaratskaya Bay coast, the Kara Sea. On one side, the large snow cover protects the coastal slope from thermodenudation and thermoabrasion; on the other side, a thick layer of snow affects the ground temperature regime. During snow melting, snow patches contribute to the removal of material from the coastal slope. The quantitative effect of snow on the ground temperature regime was assessed according to numerical simulations. The critical snow thickness was determined based on a calculation. Critical snow thicknesses based on simulation and field data correlated well. The numerical simulation showed the talik formation under the snow patch. Talik size essentially depends on the freezing temperature of sediment (influenced by salinity). The changes of ground temperature regime might further generate thawing settlement of sediment under snow and contribute to beach topography, which might be a trigger for thermoabrasion.

show abstract

Physical Modelling of Arctic Coastlines—Progress and Limitations

Cited by 7 publications

References 95 publications

ArcticBeach v1.0: A physics-based parameterization of pan-Arctic coastline erosion

ArcticBeach v1.0: A physics-based parameterization of pan-Arctic coastline erosion

ArcticBeach v1.0: A physics-based parameterization of pan-Arctic coastline erosion

Snow Patches and Their Influence on Coastal Erosion at Baydaratskaya Bay Coast, Kara Sea, Russian Arctic

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About