Coastal Geoscience

Knowledge:

Hydrodynamic processes, sediment transport and morphological response (morphodynamics) in coastal environments (beaches and nearshore systems, barrier systems, tidal inlet and delta systems, back-barrier systems, aeolian systems) and the resulting stratigraphy, landforms and landform assemblages. Topics include: Waves and currents; erosion and transport of sediments; beach and shoreface morphology; conceptual morphological models; stratigraphy and formation of coastal landscapes; beach erosion/accretion; coastal response to changes in sea-level, sediment supply and climate change.

Skills:

• apply, evaluate and analyze methods, theory and data related to the course subjects.
• gain an overview and understanding of research methodologies in the coastal environment
• analyse and discuss data-sets from studies dealing with coastal processes and coastal deposits
• give a short, concise and well-illustrated oral presentation of a research problem (on the basis of scientific papers).
• write a short, concise assignment on a selected topic aimed at colleagues within research or public institutions

Competences:

The aim of the course is to gain a broad and coherent understanding of sediment transport, geomorphological processes, coastal deposits and landforms in coastal environments. The students will be able to understand/appreciate coastal development over both short and long time spans and how (and why) changing boundary conditions (climate change; sea level change) affect these landscapes in the long term. This includes an appreciation of risks related to climate change along with possible adaptation strategies and measures.

At the end of the course the student will be able to critically evaluate both research methodologies and research results from coastal environments, to extract information from scientific publications and to translate this into coherent, professional-style oral presentations and a short, concise written assignment.