Project description

Cliffs act as natural barriers against coastal hazards such as storm surge flooding and extreme waves and runup; but they can also be undercut and fail as a result of hydrodynamic forcing. Rockfalls and landslides from eroding cliffs represent a significant hazard to humans and infrastructure around Ireland’s rocky coasts.

Ireland’s coastal cliffs are understudied, hence the need to use cutting-edge techniques to measure rates of cliff recession. This project will generate a critical initial baseline dataset that can be used monitor future change.

This project will employ a multifaceted approach to monitor rocky coastal cliff erosion at the various temporal and spatial scales required to understand rates and drivers of rock cliff recession. 

We investigate the drivers of coastal change through geomorphic characterisation, environmental monitoring, and numerical modelling. 

We combine PS-InSAR’s high temporal resolution, high-precision measurements with high resolution SfM derived 3D models, rock mass characterisation and numerical modelling. 

This is the first project on the Island of Ireland to employ a multi-spatial and temporal scale approach for investigating the rates and drivers of coastal cliff erosion.

Impact of the project

1. In the short term, the project’s outputs will have a direct impact on scientific knowledge in the field of coastal geomorphology. The outputs will serve as essential datasets for the scientific community, enabling immediate engagement with the research’s preliminary findings and methodological approaches.

2. In the medium term, the project’s outcomes will offer valuable insights into erosion dynamics on Ireland rocky coastal cliffs. The results from this project will help inform land management decisions, guide engineering interventions, and provide data for coastal hazard assessments. The provision of these knowledge outputs is central to the Geological Survey of Ireland’s remit to support of Global and national challenges by the provision of data that ‘monitor and model the impact of climate change on our coastlines and marine environment

3. The long-term impacts of the project will assist policy development and improve ourbunderstanding of rock coast dynamics.