Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego researchers have uncovered how rain and waves act on different parts of coastal cliffs.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego researchers have uncovered how rain and waves act on different parts of coastal cliffs.
Following three years of cliff surveys in and near the coastal city of Del Mar, Calif., they determined that wave impacts directly affect the base, and rain mostly impacts the upper region of the cliffs.
The study appears in the journal Geomorphology and was funded by California State Parks. California’s State Parks Oceanography program supports climate adaptation and resilience efforts through coastal and cliff erosion observations and modeling, measuring and predicting storm surge and wave variability, and establishing wave condition baselines for use in the design and operation of coastal projects.
“It’s something that I’ve been trying to quantify for a long time, which is exciting,” said coastal geomorphologist Adam Young, who is the lead author on the paper. “We’ve always known that waves were an important part of the cliff erosion process, but we haven’t been able to separate the influence of waves and rain before.”
Read more at University of California - San Diego
Photo: Adam Young buries wave energy-measuring sensors. CREDIT: Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego
