Posts
Giant
Waves Consuming Ancient UK Coastal Landmarks
with
Peter Sinclair
8
February, 2014
It’s
one thing to see man made structures swallowed by the gigantic waves
and relentless jet-stream driven storms that have hit the UK this
winter – but when geological features that have stood for hundreds,
if not thousands of years, are erased, one has to pause.
The
accelerated re-arrangement of coastlines due to climate change and
sea level rise is underway, but we haven’t seen anything yet.
Hate
to give traffic to the Daily
Mail, but there is this:
A
huge ancient formation known as Pom Pom Rock has been destroyed after
constant pounding by ferocious waves on the South coast.(below)The
rock off Portland, Dorset, was said to have weighed hundreds of
tonnes and dates back 150 million years to the Jurassic age.
It
comes as a landmark rock arch that has stood for centuries in
Cornwall was reduced to rubble by towering waves and 70mph
winds. Porthcothan Bay is famed for its picture-postcard beach
and caves – but its massive stone archway has now collapsed into
the sea.(above)
The
towering outcrop once resembled a giant rocky doughnut. Now, though,
it looks like someone has taken a huge bite out of it.
David
Petley in AGU
Blogosphere:
The
recent UK storms have brought exceptionally wild coastal weather, in
particular to southern and western England, Wales and Northern
Ireland. This has had a profound impact on the geomorphology of
the British coast. The
Met Office has a nice summary of these storms.
The combination of strong winds, high tides, large waves and
saturated ground has greatly accelerated coastal processes, promoting
failure of large rock masses. The BBC
has a nice article that
highlights some of these changes.
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