Forecasting coastal change
Coastal communities are prone to a range of geohazards, including sea-level rise, storms, subsidence, earthquakes and tsunamis. They can result in major changes to our coastlines, causing loss of life, damage to infrastructure, economic hardship, and degradation of coastal ecosystems. The ability to forecast coastal response to driving mechanisms is crucial to enable effective decision-making about how best to manage the coastal zone and reduce risk.
Accurate forecasts of coastal change are best achieved by combining geological field and laboratory data with predictive numerical models. However, coastal geologists and numerical modellers often approach the issue in different ways that are not always complementary. To overcome this key issue, IGCP project 725 will bring together scientists from coastal geology and numerical modelling to improve the predictive capacity of numerical models to fore- and hind-cast coastal change. The project will produce a ‘best practice’ guide for how geoscientists can effectively use and integrate models into their investigations in a range of coastal settings, with a view towards directly informing management of the coastal zone. To this end, the project will also engage with stakeholders to develop guidelines for effective communication of evidence and science-based coastal policy
Key information
Duration
2021-2026
IGCP Theme
Geohazards
Project Leader
Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Canada.
Highlights
Coastal Sediments 2023 Conference
IGCP 725 members led a special session in April 2023: From Cores to Code: Data-Model Integration to Improve Reconstructions and Forecasts of Coastal Change. Topics included coastal morphodynamics, sea-level change, coastal hazards (storms, earthquakes, and tsunamis), and statistical approaches leading to an enhanced understanding of geological datasets from coastal environments.
Virtual Workshop on Radiocarbon Dating
A virtual workshop focused on the applications, approaches, tools, and pitfalls of radiocarbon dating. The workshop involved a series of twelve pre-recorded presentations which we will post for attendees one week in advance of the workshop, where experts ran breakout sessions. Attendees had the opportunity to interact with topical experts and discuss their own data/project needs and questions.
2023 Annual Meeting and Field Trip
This meeting took place in Florianopolis, Brazil in October 2023. The field trip took participants across the central Santa Catarina mainland coast and to the Santa Catarina Island.
Latest publications
This project was developed with the generous financial support of the Jeju Province Development Co. (JPDC).
