 Aeolian
Sedimentology
Wind-transported (aeolian) material is an important part of the transport cell in many sedimentary coastlines and examination of how sediment moves through such systems is paramount in understanding the link between process and response. Transport processes in natural conditions are investigated usingvarious empirical and stochastic techniques. 
Reliable methods for examining aeolian flux in natural conditions has been lacking from sediment transport studies, using mainly large, time-averaged procedures and unrealistic extrapolations. The Coastal Research Group has been involved in enhancing this methodology. Transport rates of surface sediment are investigated empirically using high resolution (1Hz) state-of-the-art sand traps (see left) along with anemometers and wind vanes. Recent results from these traps (Jackson, 1996, Sedimentology ; Jackson and McCloskey, 1997;) have produced more realistic predictions of aeolian sediment transport as well as information on aeolian fetch distance (Jackson and Cooper 1999) on sandy beaches. The Coastal Research Group also collaborates on
a world wide basis in aeolian studies. It forms part of the AEOLUS study
group, initiated by scientists from USA (Doug
Sherman and Bernie Bauer, USC;
Paul Gares, East
Carolina University and Karl Nordstrom, Rutgers
University ; Canada (Robin
Davidson-Arnott, University
of Guelph and Portugal (Nuno Gomes, University of Lisbon).
Internal mechanisms of a new, instantaneous aeolian sediment trap. 
Sample results from the sediment trap. The 2nd order polynomial equation represents an incredible fit to the data.
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Of particular interest is the system of ridges and runnels that characterise the intertidal beach fronting the dune system. Field measurements of a series of profiles across these features has enabled insights into their behaviour under wave attack. This project has been undertaken by Fatima Navas (currently working on the STORMS project) under the supervision of Andrew Cooper as a co-operative award in Science and Technology, co-Funded by Department of Education (NI) and Environment & Heritage Service (DoENI). Reference:
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The main systems under consideration are Loughros Beg, Loughros More and Gweebarra in SW Donegal. This project is being undertaken by Helene Burningham under the supervision of Andrew Cooper through a Distinction award from the Department of Education (NI) Reference:
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Recent upgrading of the sea defences at Newtownards has resulted in a joint research initiative carried out by a combined UU/QUB research team and is funded by the Rivers Agency of Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD). The work that is conducted by the Coastal Research Group (UUC), deals largely with the sedimentology of the adjacent tidal flats as well as investigating the dynamic processes operating at the site. A pre-construction monitoring survey programme lasting over two years has been completed and a construction monitoring phase is currently underway. The work is conducted by Dr Fatima Navas, Dr J.A.G. Cooper and Dr D. Jackson. For further information see PROJECT DETAILS
This study aims to develop an understanding of the temporal and spatial variation in intertidal morphology by reference to three main study sites at Newtownards, Greyabbey and Ardmillan Bay. There is a clear distinction in tidal flat type around the lough with muddy intertidal flats being largely confined to the western shore and sandflats along the eastern and northern shores (Ryan &b Cooper, 1998a). These demonstrate the control at the timescale of the last few millennia, of wave conditions in controlling tidal flat development. In addition, those sites being studied reveal marked differences in surface texture and channel patterns over the past 160 years (Ryan & Cooper 1998b). These changes are being investigated in relation to changes in potential forcing factors (wind, waves and tidal surge) in the area. In addition, two years of field data acquisition on the three study sites are providing shorter term evidence of morphological change, which is being linked to short term fluctuations in tidal and wave conditions. Photo-hovercraft This project is being undertaken by Nadine Ryan under the supervision of Andrew Cooper as a co-operative award in Science and Technology, co-Funded by Department of Education (NI) and Environment & Heritage Service (DoENI). References:
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Photo- raised beaches, sea stacks This project is being undertaken by Dessie Doherty
under the supervision of Andrew
Cooper
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This European Commission project is co-ordinated by Coventry University and involves partners from the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and France. The role of the University of Ulster in this project is complementary to that of colleagues from Queen’s University Belfast. The overall objective of the project is to examine temporal trends in storminess and its related impacts on the Atlantic seaboard of the European Union.
In the University of Ulster we are investigating the patterns of coastal response to individual storms (Cooper & Jackson in press) with the objective of establishing thresholds of morphological response to storm forcing. A number of sites around Ireland are being used to establish this record, which is being tied to analysis of changing storminess in the region. One of the most intriguing findings to date has been the role of former hurricanes that have crossed the north Atlantic and produced coastal impacts in the western British Isles (Cooper & Orford, 1998) The project is being undertaken by Andrew Cooper, Derek Jackson, Fatima Navas and Philippe MacClenahan. Photos to be supplied. References:
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The western coasts of Britain and Ireland are
characterised by a range of dune forms which have achieved much recognition
for their biodiversity and conservation value. Although several studies
of these dunes have been undertaken from a chronological development and
stratigraphic-pedological perspective, their geomorphology is poorly understood.
Fundamentally these dunes differ from many other regions in that the bulk
of their emplacement took place during a postglacial fall in sea level.
Sincethen, however, they have been much modified by natural processes and human activities so that a variety of forms including machair, dune hummocks, parabolic dunes, blowouts and ridges with various orientations exist. This project aims to develop and understanding of the range of geomorphological variation between and within dune systems and to investigate the spatial distribution of dune forms, with the intention of gaining insights into the controls on dune development after emplacement of the main sand body. It is based on field measurement and aerial photography acquired with a digital colour infra-red system.
This project is being undertaken by Gillian McKenzie under the supervision of Andrew Cooper through a Quota award, Funded by Department of Education (NI) Top
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The study involves field mapping, use of Ground Penetrating Radar etc. This project is being undertaken by John McGourty under the supervision of Peter Wilson as a Co-operative Award in Science and Technology, co-Funded by Department of Education (NI) and Environment & Heritage Service (DoENI). Top
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Firstly, joint work by Andrew Cooper in the nearshore zone using side scan sonar and seismic profiling, in collaboration with Joe Kelley and Dan Belknap (Geology Dept., University of Maine) has been undertaken with financial support from Environment & Heritage Service (DoENI), the British Council and through a Co-operative Research Grant from NATO. This work has been aimed at identifying geomorphological and seismic stratigraphic indicators of sea level at elevations below present sea level (Cooper et al., 1998). Secondly, Marshall McCabe and Andrew Cooper have been gathering evidence of former relative sea level position around the north Irish coast. Dating of some of these sea level positions has been made possible by AMS dating of the contained microfauna (McCabe, 1997) References:
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The inner shelf off the north coast of Northern Ireland has been variously affected by deglacial sediment influxes, sea level variability and contemporary tidal currents and wave processes. Its present morphology is the result of these combined influences. A project has been established to determine the present distribution of sediments and associated bedforms on the sea floor with the intention of linking these to these controlling factors and to determining the role of such sediments in modern coastal systems. This project involves side scan sonar mapping of the sea floor, sediment sampling and analysis and analysis of tidal currents and wave energy. The project is being undertaken by Declan Lawlor under the supervision of Andrew Cooper through a University of Ulster Vice Chancellors Research Studentship. Photo-boat, side scan image, map of N.Coast Top
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The 2500km coastline of South Africa between the Orange River Mouth and Kosi Bay contains over 300 estuaries in a variety of climatic zones that span humid subtropical, warm temperate, cold temperate and arid semi-desert types (Cooper et al., 1999). A number of studies of specific estuaries (Cooper 1993a,b,c) revealed some unique characteristics of estuaries in KwaZulu-Natal. As a result of the diversity of estuarine type the estuaries present offer an ideal opportunity to examine spatial controls on estuarine behaviour and morphology. An ongoing study is being undertaken of the morphology of these systems by Andrew Cooper in collaboration with colleagues at the CSIR in Durban and the Council for Geoscience in Cape Town and Durban. Methods employed include field data gathering and air photo interpretation and it is intended to develop a geomorphological classification of these estuarine systems. The Photos below give a graphic illustration of the role of extreme floods in estuary geomorphology in KwaZulu-Natal (see also Cooper, 1990)
To date a number of studies have been undertaken of individual systems and these have recognised an important distinction between river-dominated estuaries and tide-dominated estuaries on a coast where tidal range varies little. Tide dominated systems have sufficient tidal prisms to remain open against wave processes, whereas river-dominated systems are dependent on fluvial discharge to augment small or non-existent tidal prisms and maintain outlet channels. References:
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of PageFalkland
Islands
The geographical position of the Falkland Islands (Lat. 51o-52o55’ south, Long. 57o40’-61o30’ west), between the temperate environments of southernmost South America and the polar environments of the sub-Antarctic islands and Antarctica, makes them of major significance in the search to understand how regional environments have changed during the late Quaternary. Dr. Peter
Wilson, Senior Lecturer in the School of Environmental Studies, undertakes
research designed to explore and understand the patterns of Quaternary
environmental change in the islands. With colleagues in England (Richard
Clark), Belfast (Jim McAdam, Valerie Hall and Jane Holmes) and Colorado
(Ulrike Huber) a variety of topics have been and continue to be studied.
Several papers based on fieldwork conducted in 1989, 1994 and 1997 have
been published in international journals.
Aeolian processes and sediments Extensive and thick sand accumulations containing organic-rich horizons (peat and sandy peat) are of common occurrence both along the coast and at inland locations across large parts of south-central West Falkland. Coastal sands are probably associated with sediment transport towards the shoreline in conjunction with sea-level rise following the last global cold stage. At many inland sites sands occur along the downwind shores of small lakes and ponds and relate to deflation of exposed sandy shores at times of lower lake levels. Some sand blowing occurs at the present day. Many lakes undergo seasonal reductions in water level and the persistent and strong westerlies readily dry the sand and move it away from the lake basins. Mean monthly and annual wind speeds are within the range 6-9 m s-1. From some low-lying (<30 m a.s.l.) sites the movement of sand has been to elevations exceeding 150 m a.s.l. Subsequent erosion of these high-level deposits by both sheet and channel flow has transported sand (and gravel) back to lower ground where aeolian and alluvial sediments now interdigitate. Peat and sandy peat horizons within the sands at a range of sites have been sampled and radiocarbon dated in order to determine phases of relative landscape stability (vegetation colonisation and pedogenesis). The dates indicate stability phases have occurred at various times since the late Pleistocene but not all stability phases are present at all sites. It is not yet clear if these phases correlate with periods of high lake levels and/or reduced windiness or what role site-specific factors may have played. At the base of many sand exposures and over large areas from which sand has been stripped, bedrock outcrops and clasts, from fine gravel to massive boulders, have been grooved, polished and/or facetted by the abrasive action of wind-blown sand. Such ventifacts are common on dolerite and harder sandstones/quartzites. No peat horizons have yet been found below ventifacts; the oldest peats in the area have given radiocarbon dates of 14-13 ka BP, indicating ventifact formation prior to that time. Publications:
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As part of the European Union programme on Climate Change (EPOCH programme), the study sought to establish the chronological development of western European coastal dunes, to identify stability/instability phases at the regional scale and assess the relative role of climate and sea-level changes and human occupation as forcing factors. A stepwise method was devised for a regional approach to the gathering, compilation, standardisation and comparison of palaeo-environmental and chronological data sets of diverse origins on western European coastal dune chronology. The method sought to provide a reliable and consistent conceptual and chronological framework for recording and storing information. The stepwise method ensured that reliable data was established at the site level from which regional patterns were built up to identify synchronous and diachronous trends at the regional scale. Based on a literature review of palaeoenvironmental and archaeological sources, a scenario of chronology of stability/instability phases i.e., a chronodiagram, was established for individual countries (about 150 sites from Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, the British Isles, Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal). A regional chronodiagram was ultimately compiled from individual ones to produce a regional scenario. Two additional regional scenarios were compiled for external forcing factors. Firstly, a tentative climatic scenario of Holocene regional temperature, precipitation and circulation changes (wind patterns and storm tracks) was proposed, based on a comparison of model simulations (GCM) and empirical reconstructions (pollen and lake-level data). Periods of marked climatic trends (e.g. increased storminess and warming) were defined. Secondly, a regional scenario for Holocene sea-level trends was compiled from available sea-level curves. All periods and phases in the respective three scenarii were reported in calibrated radiocarbon years to allow for continuity (mixing of radiocarbon and historical dates) and comparison between the different records. The coastal dune chronodiagrams were matched with periods defined from both the climatic scenario and the timing and rate of changes in sea-level. Cause-and-effect relationships were examined for. Despite constraints associated with the present limitation in the spatio-temporal resolution of palaeoclimatic information in comparison with that of chronodiagrams, climate emerged as the dominant external forcing mechanism affecting long-term patterns of dune stability/instability during the Holocene in Europe. The relative contribution of individual climatic parameters remains, however, difficult to establish. Dune systems appeared stable during rising and/or high sea level and unstable during falling and/or low sea level. Human impact was only of local significance. The study demonstrated the usefulness of regional scale approach to chronological and long-term morphodynamic investigation, in particular in its ability to remove local-scale events and highlight major trends in long-term coastal dune development at the western European scale. The research was undertaken by Philippe
Macclenahan (currently working on the STORMS
project) under the initial supervision of the late Prof. Bill Carter and
latterly under the supervision of Andrew
Cooper and Peter Wilson.
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Lough Foyle is one of the largest marine embayments in Northern Ireland. Morphologically it displays many of the characteristics of a microtidal estuary with an extensive supratidal barrier complex (Magilligan Foreland), inlet channel and ebb-tidal delta. In the back-barrier zone, however, a wide and shallow subtidal zone is succeeded landward by a wide intertidal flat and eroding dune. Little salt marsh development has occurred along the estuary margin, due largely to a lack of available sediment. The Lough has been modified substantially by human activities since the mid 1800s and in particular, reclamation of intertidal flats has modified the tidal prism. In addition, previous studies have shown the area of Magilligan Point to be particularly dynamic over the past 160 years. This study aims, through the use of field observation, numerical modelling, analysis of climate records and historical evidence of morphological change, to understand the mesoscale morphodynamics of Lough Foyle. The hydrodynamic model 3DD is being used to simulate tidal flows for a variety of historical morpholgies. Thanks are expressed to Prof. Kerry Black of NIWA (New Zealand) for permission to use this model. This project is being undertaken by Jeremy Gault under the supervision of Andrew Cooper as a co-operative award in Science and Technology, co-Funded by Department of Education (NI) and Environment & Heritage Service (DoENI). Insert satellite image of Lough Foyle Top
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J.D. Orford (Queen’s University, Belfast)
As part of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funded Land-Ocean Interaction Study (LOIS) the coastal dune systems of Northumberland and Norfolk, eastern England, have been examined with the aim of reconstructing their environmental history through geomorphological, stratigraphical and sedimentological investigations linked to 14C and luminescence (IRSL) dating. The work forms part of the Land-Ocean Evolution Perspective Study (LOEPS), one of the interconnected components of the LOIS programme. The study forms the first detailed investigation of coastal dune systems from along the coasts of Northumberland and Norfolk using morphological, stratigraphical (chrono and litho) and sedimentological approaches. The primary aim of the study was to consider the controls on dune initiation and development during the Holocene. Dune stratigraphy was established from 43 vibrocores through dunes and into sub-dune sediments. The chronology was based on 23 AMS and conventional 14C dates and 37 IRSL dates. The oldest dunes in Northumberland are c. 4000 years BP (cal.) with phases of dune development at 2800 and 1500-1000 years BP. However most dune deposition is of last millennium age with a concentration, especially in Norfolk around 500-200 years BP. Prior to the Little Ice Age (LIA) Northumberland dunes appear to be associated with Holocene sea-level rise and overlie and in places interdigitate with freshwater peats. The development of forced regressive Holocene sequences in northern Northumberland and transgressive Holocene sequences along the southern Northumberland coast suggest that variable sea-level change histories are a first order control on coastal morphology and hence dune development. Dune initiation seems to be temporally variable though showing greater consistency in the last millennium. Norfolk dune deposition appears to be related to mesoscale changes in coastal configuration in which longshore changes predominate over onshore changes during the last millennium despite the consistent transgressive sea level over the Holocene. The chronological framework for the latest Norfolk dunefield development indicates significant dune initiation and activity occurred during the centuries of the LIA (1400-1800 AD). The lack of any dunes between Roman times and 1400 AD suggests that allogenic changes in forcing conditions (sea-level change rates and storminess) and/or sediment supply occurred to trigger this concentrated burst of dune initiation. Publications: Braley, S.M. & Wilson, P. 1997. Ventifacts from the coast of Northumberland. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 108, 141-147. Knight, J., Orford, J.D., Wilson, P., Wintle, A.G. & Braley, S. 1998. Facies age and controls on recent coastal sand dune evolution in north Norfolk, eastern England. Journal of Coastal Research Special Issue 26, 154-161. Orford, J.D., Wilson, P., Wintle, A. Knight, J. & Braley, S. 1999. Holocene coastal dune initiation in Northumberland and Norfolk, eastern UK: climate and sea-level changes as possible forcing agents for dune initiation. In: Shennan, I. and Andrews, J.E. (eds.), Holocene land-ocean interaction and environmental change around the western North Sea. Geological Society of London, Special Publication No. (in press) |
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