EGU General Assembly vEGU21: Gather Online (#vEGU21)
It is our great pleasure to invite submissions to the following Geomorphology Session at the fully virtual EGU General Assembly 2021 meeting, 19 – 30 April 2021. GM6.6 COASTAL ZONE GEOMORPHOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS: NATURAL VERSUS HUMAN-INDUCED DRIVING FACTORS.
THE SESSION IS SPONSORED BY THE COMMISSION ON COASTAL SYSTEMS (CCS) OF THE INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL UNION (IGU) (http://igu-coast.org/).
Session link: https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU21/session/40296
Coasts worldwide face a great variety of environmental impacts as well as increased anthropogenic pressures of coastal zone urbanization and rapid population growth. Over the last decade coastal erosion has emerged as a widespread problem that causes shoreline retreat and irreversible land losses. The attempts of managers and other stakeholders to cope with erosion using different types of hard engineering methods may often aggravate this problem, damaging natural landscape and coastal ecosystems in unexpected and unpredicted ways. Other negative impacts of human activities on littoral environments are chronic and punctual pollution of beach and coastal sediments with associated health risks for human beings. Chronic pollution is often observed in coastal areas close to factories, industries and human settlements - because of waste water discharges, punctual contamination is often linked to beach oiling.
The session gives priority to the subjects of coastal geomorphology: evolution of coastal landforms, coastal morphodynamics, coastline alterations and various associated processes in the coastal zone, e.g. waves and sediment drift, which shape coastal features and cause morphological changes. Contributions to this session will focus on the mechanisms responsible for coastal erosion and shoreline behaviour (advance or retreat) and will address the many natural and human factors involved. The topics may include work on predictions of shoreline change and discussions on the effects of human activities and their continuing contribution to coastal changes. The session will also cover submissions on coastal vulnerability to the combined effects of natural and human-related hazards, any type of coastal and environmental sensitivity classifications, and risk assessments. Globally, coastal dunes are seriously threatened as people tend to modify landforms and habitats through their actions and regulations, and the session invites also studies on natural and human-induced geomorphological changes of sand dunes, and recent projects and examples of dune eco-restoration and re-building.
Last, but not the least, studies related to Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), including Integrated Coastal Management (ICM), are also welcome. For any MSP and ICM, it is essential to consider the dynamics across the land-sea interface, i.e. the Land-Sea Interactions (LSI) that involve both natural processes and the impact of human activities.
CONVENERS:
Dr. Hannes Tonisson (Tallinn University, Institute of Ecology), ()
Dr. Margarita Stancheva (Center for Coastal and Marine Studies) ()
Dr. Andreas Baas (Department of Geography - King's College London) ()
Dr. Giorgio Anfuso (Faculty of Marine Science - University of Cádiz) ()
Dr. Guillaume Brunier (University of Western Brittany, LEMAR) ()
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
In 2021, EGU will be hosting vEGU21: Gather Online (#vEGU21), a fully virtual meeting that will be held in place of the General Assembly in Vienna. vEGU21 will provide as full a representation of the experience that EGU members enjoy at the annual meeting in Vienna as possible.
Abstract submissions will be accepted until 13 January 2021 at 13:00 CET. More details, including the registration fees, will be announced in the coming weeks.