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1 March 2007 Factors Controlling the Retreat of Drumlin Coastal Cliffs in a Low Energy Marine Environment—Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland
R. O. Greenwood, J. D. Orford
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Abstract

The erosion of low cliffs of glacial material has been investigated around the shoreline of an enclosed sea basin (lough) with a very low wave energy environment. Erosion pins used at 16 sites monitored cliff retreat rates at monthly or 6-monthly intervals over a 3-year period. The total erosion during the 3-year study period ranged from 164.4 mm a−1 to 8.2 mm a−1. Cliff height, cliff angle, and the length and bearing of maximum fetch were found to be the most important parameters controlling erosion. Variations in cliff materials did not emerge as a significant factor controlling erosion rates. The shoreline on the eastern side of the lough suffers more rapid erosion than that on the western side because of its greater exposure to storms from the southwest quadrant. Current rates of erosion are sufficient on the eastern shore for some drumlins to have been completely eradicated or reduced to boulder shoals by erosion in the time that sea levels have been at present elevations.

R. O. Greenwood and J. D. Orford "Factors Controlling the Retreat of Drumlin Coastal Cliffs in a Low Energy Marine Environment—Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland," Journal of Coastal Research 2007(232), 285-297, (1 March 2007). https://doi.org/10.2112/04-0417.1
Received: 26 November 2004; Accepted: 23 September 2005; Published: 1 March 2007
KEYWORDS
coastal erosion
cohesive shoreline
drumlin bluffs
recession
stepwise multiple regression
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