A recently published paper in the Coastal Ocean Processes journal, looks into the insufficient resilience of three coastal lake barriers at the central part of the Polish Baltic Sea coast. The study, conducted by the REST-COAST partner Grzegorz Różyński (Institute of Hydro-Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IBW PAN)), states that the endangered coastal morphological units encompass south Baltic sandy beaches with dune strips and soft postglacial cliffs, where sand and till often form geological layer cakes, sometimes with lenses of pressurised groundwater. 

The paper presents a study on the insufficient resilience of three coastal lake barriers at the central part of the Polish Baltic Sea coast. The use of recently elaborated high resolution geological surveys demonstrated previously underestimated severe sand scarcity and indicated high threats of enhanced erosion, breaching and overtopping of the barriers. 

Overall, the results of the research demonstrate high susceptibility of the barriers to frequent fragmentation and allow for recommendations of protection measures minimizing interference into the natural landscapes. In conclusion it can be stated that the novelty of this paper consists in the assessment of aftermaths of extreme events by combining recent advances in coastal geology and climate change effects.

Read the full paper here.