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的重点主题B，海岸形态：海岸沉积物预算及其在海岸恢复中的作用。该项目将采用综合和多学科的方法，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业知识，（现场和实验室）和数字技能，了解是什么过程控制着海岸系统动力学，并回答相关的科学问题。蓝色海岸将明确解决中期（年）和长期预测的不确定性。（十年和更长时间）区域沉积物收支和更好地了解形态变化和如何恢复后的事件序列，如风暴：（i）提高代表性的可运输和源材料在thecoastal带内的模型;（ii）建立可运输的材料是如何介导的生态系统usingexemplary栖息地代表英国海岸带;（iii）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，以了解该系统的内部动态（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形态变化中长期预测的不确定性。项目概述：重点主题的范围设定了对物理和生物动力海岸过程的定量知识的要求，以改善区域沉积物收支和形态变化的水动力模型预测。为了提供一个综合的、全面的和具有成本效益的反应，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，横跨一系列具有重要地理意义的沉积环境。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，这些模型将能够模拟关键生物和物理驱动因素单独或组合的沿海形态后果。我们将通过进行精心控制的实验，使用水槽产生不同的流态，使用最先进的实地测量技术，并在实验室中使用暴露于预期未来条件（变暖、海洋酸化、营养物负荷）的完整沉积物和沉积物群落，跟踪自然事件期间的变化。由于在整个英国海岸以高空间分辨率量化所有相关的morphodynamicprocesses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 theirrole in coastal recovery. This project will adopt a holistic and multidisciplinary approach, combining the expertise ofbiologists, coastal engineers, geologists, geomorphologists and oceanographers with complementary experimental (fieldand laboratory) and numerical skills, to understand what processes control the coastal system dynamics and answer therelevant scientific questions.BLUE-coast will explicitly address uncertainties in the prediction of medium-term (years) and long -term (decadal andlonger) regional sediment budgets and better understand morphological change and how the coast recovers aftersequences of events, such as storms by: (i) improving representation of both transportable and source material within thecoastal zone within models; (ii) establishing how transportable material is mediated by the ecological system usingexemplar habitats representative of the UK coastal zone; (iii) assessing sensitivities of this mixed-sediment physical andbiological system to possible changes in external forcing, including the combined impact of multiple variables andsequences of events, with the goal of understanding the internal dynamics of the system (e.g. nonlinearities, criticalthresholds, 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 andbiological dynamic coastal processes in order to improve hydrodynamic model predictions of regional sediment budgetsand 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 typicallyobserved in temperate coasts, with (ii) in situ validation studies of key processes, and (iii) manipulative laboratory and fieldexperiments aimed at unambiguously identifying causal relationships and establishing generality, and (iv) integration ofnew 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 ofantecedent conditions on coastal erosion and recovery, the effect of biota on mediating sediment fluxes and pathways andthe effect of event sequencing on coastal erosion and recovery, across a range of geographically significant sedimenthabitats. 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, generatingdifferent flow regimes using flumes, tracking changes during natural events using state-of-the-art field measurementtechnology and, in the laboratory, using intact sediments and sediment communities exposed to anticipated futureconditions (warming, ocean acidification, nutrient loading). As it is not feasible to quantify all the relevant morphodynamicprocesses at high spatial resolution across the entire UK coast, our approach is to address the principal objectives through4 interdisciplinary workpackages that follow a logical progression of scientific themes.