Quantifying the environmental controls on erosion of a hard rock cliff

Greater erosion occurs at the cliff toe. However, comparing water level inundation frequency, microseismic energy transfer and erosion, we observe that heights up the cliff that correspond with water levels associated with low frequency, high energy storms, or more frequent inundation, do not experience increased erosion. Our results describe the relationship between inundation duration, energy transfer and erosion of hard rock cliffs, and illustrate the relative intensity of erosion response to variations in these conditions. Implicitly our data suggests that in future, cliffed rocky coasts may be relatively quick to respond to changes in environmental forcing.