This article was published in The Conversation by Ivan Haigh (Physical Oceanography) and Shari Gallop (Geology and Geophysics) from Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton. Coastal floods are a major global hazard. In 2008, Cyclone Nargis generated a five-metre storm surge along the coast of southern Myanmar. This swept seawater 50km inland, killing a… Read More SurgeWatch: New database on coastal flooding in the UK
Shari Gallop, Sebastian Pitman and Ivan Haigh from Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton are collaborating with Dr Karin Bryan from the University of Waikato and Roshanka Ranasinghe (UNESCO-IHE, Deltares, ANU), to understand the dynamics of rip currents. Rip currents are jet-like flows in the surf zone. Globally, rips are one of the main causes of… Read More Ripping it up in the Antipodes
Are you interested in doing a PhD at the University of Southampton? Check out these projects in G&G on: Surface bed layer dynamics: Modelling bed changes in estuaries; and Surface bed layer dynamics: in situ monitoring and quantitification Check out more projects in G&G and other disciplines at the National Oceanography Center, Southampton here and info… Read More PhD projects available in surface bed layer dynamics
New research has found that the Great Barrier Reef, as a whole, is a remarkably effective wave absorber, despite large gaps between the reefs. This means that landward of the reefs, waves are mostly related to local winds rather than offshore wave conditions. As waves break and reduce in height over reefs, this drives currents… Read More Great Barrier Reef is a remarkably efficient wave attenuator
Coastal regions under threat from climate change and sea-level rise need to tackle the more immediate threats of human-led and other non-climatic changes, according to a team of international scientists. The team of 27 scientists from five continents was led by Dr Sally Brown at the University of Southampton, and from Ocean and Earth Science… Read More Managing coasts under threat from climate change and sea-level rise
In the past it was thought that the boundary between continental and oceanic crust at the edge of the ocean basins was close to the edge of the flat “abyssal plains”, but over the past 20 years it has been revealed that true oceanic crust is often not present until much further out into the… Read More Searching for the limits of the continents
Scientists and engineers have fought to save the beautiful World Heritage site of Venice from flooding since the 10th century. Now, with 22 million tourists visiting the city every year and the threat of sea levels rising with climate change, the problem of habitat destruction in the lagoon is more acute than ever. University of… Read More Management of the coastal development of Venice lagoon
Applications are open for the Engineering in the Coastal Environment MSc 2014/2015 programme at the University of Southampton. The coastal zone is now widely recognised as important at national, European and global levels. Skilled engineers who can understand environmental issues in such sensitive areas are in high demand. The accredited MSc Engineering in the Coastal… Read More Applications open for MSc Engineering in the Coastal Environment
What is the fate of the volatiles that are stored in trench sediments, igneous crust and hydrated lithospheric mantle and that are transported into a subduction zone? G&G Marie Curie Research Fellow Jacob Geersen has been involved in recently published research, that constrains and compare the input and output fluxes of water, chlorine and sulfur into the Central Chilean… Read More What goes in must come out?
The question whether each megathrust earthquake necessarily and instantaneously triggers submarine mass-movement has been intensively discussed in the wake of the giant earthquakes that occurred over the last decade. Whereas the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake (Japan) caused failure of parts of the lowermost continental slope, no similar evidence was found after the 2010 Maule earthquake (Central… Read More Megathrust earthquakes and submarine landslides