Physical and biological dynamic coastal processes and their role in coastal recovery (BLUE-coast)

蓝色海岸联合会讨论了NERC的重点议题B，沿海形态：沿海沉积物预算及其在沿海恢复中的作用。该项目将采取全面和多学科的方法，结合生物学家、海岸工程师、地质学家、地貌学家和海洋学家的专门知识，（现场和实验室）和数字技能，了解哪些过程控制沿海系统动态并回答相关的科学问题。蓝色海岸将明确解决中期（年）和长期预测中的不确定性（十年期和更长时间）区域沉积物预算和更好地了解形态变化和海岸如何恢复后的事件序列，如风暴：（一）提高代表性的可运输和源材料在沿海地区的模型;（二）建立可运输的材料是如何介导的生态系统使用示范生境代表英国沿海地区; ㈢评估这一混合沉积物物理和生物系统对外部强迫可能变化的敏感性，包括多个变量和事件序列的综合影响，目的是了解该系统的内部动态（例如非线性、临界阈值、临界点、前兆和先决条件），同时评估行为不确定性，以及（iv）减少区域沉积物收支和地貌变化中长期预测的不确定性。项目概述：重点专题的范围要求对物理和生物动态海岸过程的定量知识，以改进区域沉积物收支和形态变化的流体动力学模型预测。为了提供一个综合、全面和具有成本效益的应对措施，我们的主要活动将结合联合收割机：（i）对典型的温带海岸生物沉积物条件的代表性陆架海景观进行详细研究，（ii）对关键过程进行原位验证研究，（iii）旨在明确识别因果关系和建立普遍性的操纵性实验室和现场实验，以及（iv）在区域尺度和环境强迫下对海岸地貌动力学的控制和影响的新认识的整合。通过进行大量的现场观测和过程研究，我们将直接量化一系列具有重要地理意义的沉积物生境中的前期条件对海岸侵蚀和恢复的影响、生物群对介导沉积物通量和路径的影响以及事件顺序对海岸侵蚀和恢复的影响。这些数据将作为现有和创新数值模型的校准和验证数据集，这些模型将能够单独或组合模拟关键生物和物理驱动因素的沿海形态后果。我们将获得机械的理解，并通过执行精心控制的实验，使用水槽产生不同的流态，使用最先进的现场测量技术跟踪自然事件期间的变化，并在实验室中，使用完整的沉积物和沉积物群落暴露于预期的未来条件（变暖，海洋酸化，营养负荷）来实现一般性。由于在整个英国海岸以高空间分辨率量化所有相关的形态动力学过程是不可行的，我们的方法是通过遵循科学主题逻辑进展的4个跨学科工作包来解决主要目标。

The BLUE-coast consortium addresses NERC highlight topic B, Coastal morphology: coastal sediment budgets and their role in coastal recovery. This project will adopt a holistic and multidisciplinary approach, combining the expertise of biologists, coastal engineers, geologists, geomorphologists and oceanographers with complementary experimental (field and laboratory) and numerical skills, to understand what processes control the coastal system dynamics and answer the relevant scientific questions.BLUE-coast will explicitly address uncertainties in the prediction of medium-term (years) and long -term (decadal and longer) regional sediment budgets and better understand morphological change and how the coast recovers after sequences of events, such as storms by: (i) improving representation of both transportable and source material within the coastal zone within models; (ii) establishing how transportable material is mediated by the ecological system using exemplar habitats representative of the UK coastal zone; (iii) assessing sensitivities of this mixed-sediment physical and biological system to possible changes in external forcing, including the combined impact of multiple variables and sequences of events, with the goal of understanding the internal dynamics of the system (e.g. nonlinearities, critical thresholds, tipping points, precursors and antecedent conditions) in parallel with assessments of behavioural uncertainties, and (iv) reduce uncertainties in medium to long -term prediction of regional sediment budgets and morphological change. Project Overview: the scope of the Highlight Topic sets a requirement for quantitative knowledge on both physical and biological dynamic coastal processes in order to improve hydrodynamic model predictions of regional sediment budgets and morphological change. To deliver an integrated, holistic and cost effective response, our main activities will combine (i) a detailed study of representative shelf sea landscapes that spans the full variety of organism-sediment conditions typically observed in temperate coasts, with (ii) in situ validation studies of key processes, and (iii) manipulative laboratory and field experiments aimed at unambiguously identifying causal relationships and establishing generality, and (iv) integration of new understanding of controls and effects on coastal morphodynamics at regional scales and under environmental forcing. By undertaking a substantial element of in situ observation and process studies, we will directly quantify the effect of antecedent conditions on coastal erosion and recovery, the effect of biota on mediating sediment fluxes and pathways and the effect of event sequencing on coastal erosion and recovery, across a range of geographically significant sediment habitats. These data will act as calibration and validation datasets for existing and innovative numerical models that will be able to simulate the coastal morphological consequences of key biological and physical drivers, alone and in combination. We will gain mechanistic understanding and achieve generality by performing carefully controlled experiments, generating different flow regimes using flumes, tracking changes during natural events using state-of-the-art field measurement technology and, in the laboratory, using intact sediments and sediment communities exposed to anticipated future conditions (warming, ocean acidification, nutrient loading). As it is not feasible to quantify all the relevant morphodynamic processes at high spatial resolution across the entire UK coast, our approach is to address the principal objectives through 4 interdisciplinary workpackages that follow a logical progression of scientific themes.