Dune erosion

Definition of Dune erosion: Dune erosion involves that, during a severe storm surge, sediments from the mainland and upper parts of the beach are eroded and settled at deeper water within a short time period; this is a typical cross-shore sediment transport process. This is the common definition for Dune erosion, other definitions can be discussed in the article

The basis of this article is especially written for the Coastal Wiki by the main author referred to at the bottom of this page.

This article is under construction; not yet finished.

Dunes as sea defense

River and sea dikes are good examples of structures to protect low-lying areas from flooding. Also a dune area (dune row) serves that aim in some cases. E.g. the safety of large parts of The Netherlands, often with ground levels even below Mean Sea Level (MSL), relies on dikes, but also on dunes for their protection against flooding.

Visiting the beach and the coastal zone in e.g. The Netherlands under normal weather conditions would easily give the impression that the dunes are certainly strong enough to properly protect the hinterland. However, during a severe storm surge, with under design conditions water levels at sea which are approximately 5 - 6 m above MSL and together with the much more severe wave conditions than normal (cf. wave heights Hs ≈ 7 - 9 m and peak periods Tp ≈ 12 -18 s), the dunes will be eroded in a very short period of time.

Existing design rules in The Netherlands yield erosion rates of 80 - 100 m of the dunes during design storm conditions. (The rates of 80 - 100 m are given as an order of magnitude value only to facilitate the further discussion; the actual erosion rates under design conditions depend on the specific local conditions; e.g. shape of initial cross-shore profile and particle size of the dune material.) It must be realized that because of the specific Dutch conditions, the design conditions in The Netherlands are very strict.

Rather wide dune area is sea defense

Often the dune areas in The Netherlands are wide enough to accommodate 80 - 100 m of dune erosion during a single severe storm surge. In some cases, however, the row of dunes is rather slender; a careful judgement has to be passed whether the dunes provide the required rate of protection. Is a break-through expected under design conditions?, and if yes: what reinforcement is necessary to fulfil the requirements?

So far in the discussion the safety problem of people living behind the dunes was raised as the main issue. In the Sections 'Large scale safety problem' and 'Small scale safety problem'of this article it will be shown that more issues related to dune erosion are relevant to a coastal zone manager. Aspects like the safety of single houses and hotels in the erosion zone are dealt with.

Also topics like how to deal with structural erosion and global sea level rise are relevant topics for a coastal zone manager. They are briefly discussed in this article with the present Dutch policy and insights as starting points.

From the discussions it will become clear that for many reasons a proper insight in the rates of dune erosion as a function of the boundary conditions is necessary. Section 'Quantification of rate of dune erosion' will deal with the dune erosion process and the methods to quantify the rates of erosion during a severe storm surge.

Brief explanation of dune erosion process

Figure 1 shows schematically what happens with a (in this case: wide enough) dune during a severe storm surge.

Figure 1 Dune erosion due to storm surge

The initial cross-shore profile, which might be considered to be in a more or less dynamic equilibrium condition with the normal occurring boundary conditions, will be reshaped during the severe storm surge. The much higher water levels and the much higher wave heights and peak periods call for a quite different shape of an equilibrium profile than the shape of the initial profile. Offshore directed sediment transports will occur, especially with sediments from the dunes. Sand is eroded from the dunes and is settled at the foreshore again. During these reshaping processes the slopes of the cross-shore profile gradually decrease, and consequently it can be understood that the rate of dune erosion will decrease with time during the storm surge. It is, however, not expected that a real equilibrium profile will develop during the storm surge. The time available during the storm is too short to achieve such a real equilibrium profile, but the developments are in the direction of achieving equilibrium. The shape of a cross-shore profile as encountered after the storm surge is often called 'erosion profile'.

Right after a severe storm surge, when the boundary conditions are normal again, the shape of the (erosion) profile does not fit with these normal conditions. Onshore directed sediment transports will occur; wind will blow sand from the beach to the dunes; the 'old' situation will gradually be restored. Dune erosion because of severe storm surges is thus a temporary and a reversible process.

Large scale safety problem

If, like in some cases, the dunes are really slender and landward of the row of dunes the ground levels are even below MSL (like in some places in The Netherlands) a large scale safety problem might occur. A break-through of the dunes causes flooding and will cause loss of lives and results in a lot of damage in the densely populated low-lying areas of The Netherlands. Given the dimensions of a row of dunes and the specific design conditions, the Coastal Zone Manager has to judge whether the dunes are 'safe' or not. 'Safe' is in this respect in fact a relative notion. 'Safe' means that the strength (width, height) of the dunes fulfils the requirements. Absolute safety does not exist in many cases; often a set of even more extreme boundary conditions is conceivable which will result in a break-through of a row of dunes which was judged just 'safe' enough. The chance that such a set of boundary conditions will occur, is then, however, apparently smaller than has been agreed for the design conditions. For the judgement of the safety of a row of dunes, a proper computation model is necessary and (a set of) design conditions. Section 'Quantification of rate of dune erosion' deals with these computation models.

For the further discussion in the present section it is good to realize that because of the many (stochastic) parameters which ultimately determine the rate of dune erosion, a probabilistic approach seems to be appropriate (see e.g. Van de Graaff, 1986). In a probabilistic approach an acceptable chance of failure must be the starting point instead of a single set of design conditions. Because of the high importance of the low-lying hinterland, a probability of failure for dunes of 10-5 per year (return period 100,000 years) has been agreed in The Netherlands for the most important parts of the country. This chance seems rather small, but compared to other threats (e.g. accidents with nuclear power plants, air planes or large industrial plants) the probability of failure is not that small taking into account the number of human lives and the high investments that are at stake.

The probability of failure of 10-5 per year holds for the most important parts of The Netherlands; in some more rural areas larger probabilities of failure are the (legal) norm.

Figure 2 shows a schematic plot of the relationship between the rate of erosion RD (the distance RD is in Figure 1 the distance between the initial edge of the dune and the edge of the dune after the storm surge) and the frequency of exceedance. According to Figure 2 there is a chance of 10-5 per year that a rate of erosion of 85 m is reached or will be surpassed.

Figure 2 Rate of erosion as afunction of frequency of exceedance

The safety problem of large parts of The Netherlands (as far as the problem depends on the protection by dunes (large scale problem)), seems thus solvable if a proper insight is available in the possible occurring conditions in the (very) small chances range. However, this also introduces many uncertainties. E.g. reliable measurements of (maximum) water levels of the sea in measuring stations near the coast (cf. in ports) are available since approximately 1850. So for only 150 years. With such an in fact restricted data set, it is hard to estimate water levels which are associated with frequencies of exceedance in the range of 10-3 to 10-5 per year.

Data sets of reliable measurements of wave characteristics cover even shorter periods of time. Nevertheless, these kinds of uncertainties have been taken into account to arrive at figures like Figure 2. Based on a legal norm, with the help of a proper computation method, and for a given situation (cross-section of cross-shore profile and dune area) one is next able to judge whether the cross-section meets the requirements; i.e. whether the cross-section is safe enough or not. If not: iteratively an improvement scheme for the dune area can be developed; e.g. a strengthening of the dunes at the landward side.

See also

• Types and background of coastal erosion: article on the background of erosion, dune erosion and structural erosion (Jan van de Graaff is also planning to write a separate article on dune erosion).
• Natural Causes of Coastal Erosion: Effects of e.g. transport gradient, loss of sand, protruding areas, marine deposit shorelines, down stream erosion, sea level rise, subsidence and natural variation on coastal erosion.

The main author of this article is Jan van de Graaff Please note that others may also have edited the contents of this article. Citation: Jan van de Graaff (2008): Dune erosion. Available from http://www.coastalwiki.org/wiki/Dune_erosion [accessed on 25-11-2024] For other articles by this author see Category:Articles by Jan van de Graaff For an overview of contributions by this author see Special:Contributions/Jan van de Graaff