Member Article

North East scientists measure UK's changing coast

Scientists in Durham have produced a map that could help predict the threat to Britain’s coastal areas from rising sea levels.

The new map has plotted the levels of land uplift and subsidence since the Ice Age and reveals that southern Ireland and Wales, and southern and eastern England are continuing to sink, whilst Scotland is rising.

It means that the sinking effect in the south could add between 10% and 33% to the projected sea level rises caused by global warming over the next century.

The projections are less than previously estimated and could help local authorities to save money on sea and flood defences through the targeting of resources to areas where sea level rises will be greatest.

The data and model could also be used in planning for the managed retreat of threatened coastal communities.

The map has been produced by scientists at Durham University and is published in the academic journal GSA Today.

The Durham team, led by Professor Ian Shennan, looked at the relationship of peat, sand and clay sediments that have been uplifted above sea level or are now submerged below sea level.

The team radio-carbon dated samples to see how sediments formed and to calculate changes in sea levels over thousands of years.

A total of 80 sites were examined around the UK and Ireland coasts.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .