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Evolution of salt‐marsh cliffs in muddy and sandy systems: A qualitative comparison of British West‐Coast estuaries
Author(s) -
Allen J. R. L.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
earth surface processes and landforms
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.294
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1096-9837
pISSN - 0197-9337
DOI - 10.1002/esp.3290140108
Subject(s) - salt marsh , marsh , estuary , firth , geology , cliff , erosion , bay , oceanography , shoal , spring (device) , hydrology (agriculture) , geomorphology , wetland , ecology , geotechnical engineering , paleontology , biology , mechanical engineering , engineering
Salt‐marsh cliffs in the muddy Severn Estuary are mostly strong and tall. They are retreating in response to the erosive attack of wave and tidal currents chiefly through toppling failures and rotational slips. In the sandy Solway Firth and Morecambe Bay systems, marsh cliffs are strong only in their upper parts, where a dense root‐mat of marsh grasses binds the sediments. Here cantilever and toppling failures are the main response of the cliffs to tidal and wave erosion The differences between the three estuarine systems in the mechanisms of marsh‐cliff erosion are partly reflected in the mode of preservation of the cliffs on the restoration of the conditions leading to renewal of marsh growth.