News on Coastal Erosion

Pic 1 River erosion in Capadokia (Turkey) is an example that shows, to stop coastal erosion enhancing river erosion is not a solution. One can see the vast amount of mountains with traditional history lost.

Coastal Erosion observation in Greece

ESA is observing Coastal Erosion in Greece. They have published an Article on the 18th May 2021. It says, Coastal Erosion in Greece is extremely high and are highly worried over the rate at which the erosion is proceeding. The rates are about 3m/annum and at estuaries about 30 m/annum.

In the Article they are blaming Sea-Level-Rise and the reduction of supply of soil by the Rivers. Which implies less soil erosion from catchment areas of the river. Both these grave mistakes are used worldwide by scientists engineering coastal erosion to explain the causes of Erosion. Unfortunately, these two grave errors, in addition, are misleading the attempts to find other positive solutions, too.

Pic2 shows that sea-level-rise does not erode. It, at the present coast, is more than a metre lower than the eroded coast. Erosion is done by the waves.

Sea-Level-Rise does not cause coastal erosion. The minimal, few mm per year, can add to the waves by a small percentage (less than 5%), if at all. Sea-Level-Rise brings landscapes underwater but not erode them. The cause for coastal erosion hides at many other vectors. The vectors get combined to enhance the waves. The waves as they move towards the coast turn to corpuscular movement as the seabed profile changes. Namely, as the seabed becomes less deep, not other way round. The wave energy turns to kinetic energy. Kinetic energy in the molecules, as they beat the coast, erodes the coast.

Secondly, the annual loss of about 30m of estuary is blamed on the reduction of supply of soil by the rivers. This blaming is worldwide the same by all departments. A grave mistake. The growth of the estuary does not depend on supply of material by the rivers. On the contrary, promoting erosion of the catchment areas of the river is detrimental to the catchment area, river and the coast. The soil brought in by rivers, as they settle on the seabed, they increase the conversion of wave energy into kinetic energy. Consequently, increase coastal erosion (school Physics).

Pic 3 shows that when erosion in reverbeds are not curtailed, the erosion will broaden the river taking trees with it.

Besides, it creates many other dangerous conditions up in the catchment areas. If river erosion is not curtailed, undermining ensues, and the aggressive momentum of the flowing water increases mostly more than 2.5 times per molecule compared to that of water, not to mention sharpness of the edges. The undermining can set off landslides and the broadening of the riverbed pic 3.

It is true, that it will hold the estuary’s area and even in the cases like Turkey, Bengal, Myanmar and many other estuary countries, vast area of land is formed by the eroded soil from the river.

But one should know what river erosion sets off up the mountain range. They diminish, due to the domino or knock-on effect, the upper slopes together with their glaciers. One just has to visit Capadokia in Turkey to understand the results of river erosion. The soil which formed the 30% of Turkey and continuing to form is due to devastation of mountainous Turkey.

Estuaries, when effectively managed, has a biological potential which makes them grow.

Pic1 Results of river erosion in Turkey. Pic 2. Coastal erosion without sea-level-rise.