Submersion (coastal management)

Submersion is the sustainable cyclic portion of coastal erosion where coastal sediments move from the visible portion of a beach to the submerged nearshore region, and later return to the original visible portion of the beach. The recovery portion of the sustainable cycle of sediment behaviour is (accretion).

Submersion vs erosion

The sediment that is submerged during rough weather forms landforms including storm bars. In calmer weather waves return sediment to the visible part of the beach. Due to longshore drift some sediment can end up further along the beach from where it started. Often coastal areas have developed sustainable coastal positions where the sediment moving off beaches is sustainable submersion. Unfortunately, for many inhabited coastlines, anthropogenic interference in coastal processes has meant that erosion is often more permanent than submersion.

Community perception

The term erosion often is associated with undesirable impacts on the environment, whereas submersion should be celebrated as a sustainable part of healthy foreshores. Communities making decisions about coastal management need to develop understanding of the components of beach recession and be able to separate the component that is temporary sustainable submersion from the more serious irreversible anthropogenic or climate change erosion portion.

Coastal management Management Coastal management Accretion Coastal engineering Integrated coastal zone management Managed retreat Submersion Hard engineering A-jack Accropode Akmon Artificial reef Breachway Breakwater Cliff stabilization Dolos Flood wall Floodgate Gabion Groyne Levee Hard engineering Honeycomb sea wall Hudson's equation KOLOS Revetment Riprap Seawall Tetrapod Training wall Xbloc Soft engineering Beach nourishment Beach drainage Living shorelines Sand dune stabilization Soft engineering Soft shore remediation Related topics Beach evolution Coastal erosion Land reclamation Longshore transport Modern recession of beaches

Coastal geography Landforms Anchialine pool Archipelago Atoll Avulsion Ayre Barrier island Bay Baymouth bar Bight Brackish marsh Cape Channel Cliff Cliff-top dune Cliffed coast Coast Coastal plain Coastal waterfall Continental margin Continental shelf Coral reef Cove Dune Estuary Firth Fjard Fjord Flat coast Freshwater marsh Fundus Gat Geo Graded shoreline Gulf Gut Headland Inlet Intertidal wetland Island Islet Isthmus Lagoon Machair Marine terrace Mega delta Mouth bar Mudflat Natural arch Peninsula Raised shoreline Reef Regressive delta Ria River delta Rocky shore Salt marsh Shoal Shore Sound Stack Steep coast Strait Strand plain Submarine canyon Tidal island Tidal marsh Tide pool Tied island Tombolo Windwatt more ... Beaches Beach cusps Beach evolution Beach morphodynamics Beach ridge Beachrock Modern recession of beaches Pocket beach Raised beach Shingle beach Storm beach Wash margin Processes Blowhole Coastal biogeomorphology Coastal erosion Concordant coastline Current Cuspate foreland Discordant coastline Emergent coastline Feeder bluff Fetch Headlands and bays Large-scale coastal behaviour Longshore drift Marine regression Marine transgression Rip current Sea cave Sea foam Shoal Spit Submergent coastline Surf break Surf zone Surge channel Swash Undertow Volcanic arc Wave-cut platform Wave shoaling Wind wave Wrack zone Management Accretion Coastal management Integrated coastal zone management Submersion Related Bulkhead line Coastline length Intertidal zone Littoral zone Grain size boulder cobble clay granule pebble sand shingle silt Physical oceanography Region of freshwater influence more ...