Dolphin, T.; Burningham, H.; Sifnioti, D.; Manning, W.; Wallbridge, S., and Farcas, A., 2020. Mixed sand/gravel beach response to the Beast from the East storms. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 463–467. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.
Two large, very long-duration, shore-normal (easterly) storms worked on the Minsmere – Sizewell mixed sand and gravel (MSG) beach frontage (Suffolk, UK) in March 2018. These storms were unusual in their sustained high waves (Hs > 2.1 m, 97.5th percentile) for 140 hours from the east (16% occurrence), compared to the regional median duration of 8.5 hours per storm. Patterns in contour advance/retreat were compared with modelled nearshore wave conditions every 100 m along the 3.3 km frontage. Although there was a positive correlation between the upper supra-tidal beach and wave period, patterns in the beach response were inconsistent and zones of common behaviour could not be explained by the wave data. Postulated explanations include spatial variation in the antecedent morphology and particle-size arrangement within the MSG sediment matrix. Despite the high magnitude of work done by these storms, the lack of barrier erosion suggests that barrier stability is likely for the present sea level under these perceived more-erosive, though less common, easterly storms.
