Jim D Hansom

University of Glasgow, Scotland · Geographical and Earth Sciences

At exposed sites on the deep water coasts of the British Isles, cliff-top storm deposits (CTSDs) occur on cliffs at a variety of elevations above sea level and may occasionally reach up to 50 m above sea level. Time-series field mapping of CTSDs has demonstrated their formation over the historical period and their continued modification during majo...

Coastal margin habitats are globally significant in terms of their capacity to sequester and store carbon, but their continuing decline, due to environmental change and human land use decisions, is reducing their capacity to provide this ecosystem service. In this paper the UK is used as a case study area to develop methodologies to quantify and va...

The upland nature of the Scottish landscape means that much of the social and economic activity has a coastal bias. The importance of the coast is further highlighted by the wide range of ecosystem services that coastal habitats provide. It follows that the threat posed by coastal erosion and flooding has the potential to have a substantial effect...

The coasts of the UK and the Republic of Ireland support a variety of tidal ranges with intertidal zones that can cover large areas and span several shoreline types. There has been an increased recognition of the ecosystem system services derived from the intertidal zone, however, evidence also suggests an overall reduction in intertidal extents si...

Dynamic Coast Aims The Dynamic Coast project aims to provide the strategic evidence base on the extent of coastal erosion in Scotland. This will support the Scottish Government and the Scottish Public Sector decision-making and indicate areas of highest coastal erosion risk, where a more detailed evidence base may be required. The initial research...

New ¹⁰ Be exposure age dating and geomorphological mapping of emerged shoreline features in W Jura and NE Islay throw new light on the regional pattern of ice sheet deglaciation and late-glacial relative sea level change. We conclude that the oldest and highest emerged shorelines in this area were produced ~15.7–16.3 ka, shortly after ice sheet deg...

The original version of the book was inadvertently published with error in “Neogene/Early Pleistocene fluvial gravels”, and this has been corrected as “Palaeogene fluvial gravels” in Page “487” of Chapter “29”. The correction chapter and the book have been updated with change.

The Scottish Government’s Dynamic Coast project aims to: • Improve the evidence on coastal change; • Improve the awareness of coastal change; • Support decision-makers to ensure Scotland’s coast and assets can adapt to our future climate.

Coastal erosion, erosion enhanced flooding and coastal flooding are expected to be amongst the early impacts of climate change affecting mid-latitudes. Despite erosion and flooding often occurring together, they have in the past been considered as separate risks. This separation represents a fundamental gap that Dynamic Coast set out to address. Wh...

The 2012 UK Climate Change Committee Risk Assessment (Scotland) identified a series of evidence gaps for assessing the impacts of future climate change on the coast and its assets: ‘maps of past erosion, current state and future erosion conditions are required’ as well as an appreciation of ‘Major coastal flood/reconfiguration (including coastal er...

The Dynamic Coast research delivered in 2017 was based on changes in the position of Mean High Water Springs (MHWS) over time; chosen as MHWS is one of the few available coastal datasets recorded and mapped at a national level. This national availability resulted in widespread use in underpinning the legal boundaries of the coast and, despite a cha...

A wide range of society’s assets are at risk from coastal erosion in Scotland, with all coastal cells and asset types exposed to increasing risk associated with climate change. Scotland has around £20B of roads, rail and residential properties within 50m of MHWS; with £14.5B (74%) on soft shores (protected by natural defences) compared with £5B (26...

Landscape changes in Scotland occur in an environment of relative tectonic and climatic stability but widespread human impact. However, climatic trends and projections suggest that gradual warming and loss of snowcover may in the future be accompanied by increases in winter wetness and extreme rainstorm events, particularly in western Scotland. Per...

The Shetland Isles display a remarkable diversity of geology and landforms. The varied relief and topography and the indented coastline are strongly influenced by the bedrock geology and structure at a variety of scales. During the last glaciation, Shetland supported an independent ice cap that extended across the adjacent continental shelves. Land...

The landscapes and landforms of Orkney and Caithness have been profoundly influenced by the varied lithology and structures of the Devonian sedimentary cover. During the Neogene, an extensive planation surface developed across Caithness, with sandy weathering covers, which was subsequently uplifted and dislocated by fault movements. In the Pleistoc...

The Solway Lowlands and coast are characterised by a wide variety of glacial and glacifluvial landforms deposited by the British–Irish Ice Sheet during the last glaciation. These landforms display evidence of multiple ice-flow events and readvances of Scottish ice across the Solway Firth Lowlands. They include drumlins, crag-and-tail landforms, ice...

The Outer Hebrides Platform extends west from the present island chain towards the Atlantic continental shelf edge and represents a fragment of Archaean crust (Lewisian gneiss) that was differentially uplifted during the Palaeogene and tilted westwards during the Neogene. An extensive planation surface developed close to sea level in the Pliocene a...

Geomorphological features and processes contribute significantly to the geodiversity and geoheritage of Scotland. Key sites identified through the Geological Conservation Review are mostly protected as Sites of Special Scientific Interest. These sites represent the variety of geological, glacial, periglacial, fluvial, coastal, mass-movement and kar...

Substantial beach and dune complexes have formed along the east coast of Scotland particularly, within St Andrews Bay, Montrose Bay, Aberdeen Bay and Belhaven Bay, where the interplay of relative sea-level change and availability of glacial and paraglacial sediment sources has locally favoured sand and gravel accumulation since the mid-Holocene. Mo...

The Moray Firth coastline supports a varied assemblage of extensive modern and emerged beach and dune systems that have formed under falling sea levels and plentiful supplies of glacigenic sediment during the Middle and Late Holocene. Waves mainly from the north and east have driven longshore sediment transport to form well-developed modern beaches...

Landscape changes in Scotland occur in an environment of relative tectonic and climatic stability but widespread human impact. However, climatic trends and projections suggest that gradual warming and loss of snowcover may in the future be accompanied by increases in winter wetness and extreme rainstorm events, particularly in western Scotland. Per...

The Shetland Isles display a remarkable diversity of geology and landforms. The varied relief and topography and the indented coastline are strongly influenced by the bedrock geology and structure at a variety of scales. During the last glaciation, Shetland supported an independent ice cap that extended across the adjacent continental shelves. Land...

Estuaries and coasts (hereafter, coasts) host some of the most biologically productive ecosystems on Earth (Mann 1982), where a diversity of geomorphological processes create coastal landforms that range from wave dominated hard rock cliff s, shore platforms, and sandy beaches to more vegetated tide dominated landforms such as saltmarshes and mangr...

This paper aims to explore how resilience to climate change can be achieved and optimised within an example of a complex, high-vulnerability and low-elevation coastal zone. In Uist, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, a completed INTERREG project provided a framework for resilience planning in a complex, multifaceted environment, where official bodies, NGOs,...

The rock type used in coastal engineering structures impacts biodiversity, but its effect has been understudied to date. We report here on whether different combinations of rock material and rock mass properties can improve habitat suitability and early phase ecological outcomes on coastal engineering structures. We examine two coastal engineering...

ABSTRACT Up to 19% of Scotland’s varied and dynamic coast is classified as soft and potentially erodible. These soft coasts are under increasing risk of coastal erosion and coastal flooding, driven by observed sea level rise (predicted to accelerate) and by potential changes in storm wave impact. We present here a method to quantitatively predict c...

Quaternary deposits and landforms are an integral component of Scotland's geodiversity and natural heritage with intrinsic, scientific, educational, cultural, aesthetic and ecological values. Their conservation is founded on the assessment and safeguard of key protected areas principally for their scientific values. The evaluation of site networks...

In order to enhance the ecological value of vertical hard coastal structures, hybrid designs with complex surface textures (such as a combination of grooves and pits) have been recommended. This strategy optimises ecological colonisation at two spatial scales: 1) at the mm-scale for barnacle abundance (shown to have bioprotective capabilities), and...

Large boulder-size clasts can represent important archives of high energy erosional wave activity at the coast. From tropical coral reefs to high-latitude eroding cliffs, boulders have been used to hindcast the frequency and magnitude (height) of waves produced by both storms and tsunami. Such reconstructions are based on the balance between the hy...

Large boulder-size clasts can represent important archives of high energy erosional wave activity at the coast. From tropical coral reefs to high-latitude eroding cliffs, boulders have been used to hindcast the frequency and magnitude (height) of waves produced by both storms and tsunami. Such reconstructions are based on the balance between the hy...

It is thought that 70% of beaches worldwide are experiencing erosion (Bird in Coastline changes: a global review, Wiley, Hoboken, 1985), and as global sea levels are rising and expected to accelerate, the management of coastal erosion is now a shared global issue. This paper aims to demonstrate a method to robustly model both the incidence of the c...

The main objective of this study is to provide an evidence base of the projected extent of sea-level rise (SLR) and storm surges in the Firth of Clyde, and associated risks to vulnerable habitats, coastal communities, and infrastructure in order to inform development planning and other strategies such as flood risk management and regional marine pl...

Executive Summary Research Questions • What is the extent and location of eroding and potentially erodible coastline in Scotland? • What is the extent and rate of coastal change in Scotland over time? • Where are the vulnerable areas of Scottish coast? • What social, economic and cultural heritage assets lie within these vulnerable areas of Scottis...

Recent work suggests saltmarshes are particularly good for demonstrating how the coast can change in response to environmental influences. The pace of current Scottish relative sea level rise (Rennie and Hansom, 2011) may lead to inundation of coastal salt marsh, and so it is critical to be able to monitor the response of saltmarsh to sea level ris...

The authors present key design, construction and ecological enhancement criteria for sustainable coastal defence structures at Hartlepool, UK, a high-energy wave climate. Such 'ecologically favourable' coastal defences fulfil the habitats directive and key engineering and cost criteria. Bird, rocky intertidal ecological and biogeomorphological data...

The extent of Last Glacial Maximum ice in South Georgia is contested, with two alternative hypotheses: an extensive (maximum) model of ice reaching the edge of the continental shelf, or a restricted (minimum) model with ice constrained within the inner fjords. We present a new relative sea-level dataset for South Georgia, summarising published and...

Understanding the effects of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) of the British Isles is essential for the assessment of past and future sea-level trends. GIA has been extensively examined in the literature, employing different research methods and observational data types. Geological evidence from palaeo-shorelines and undisturbed sedimentary depos...

The upland nature of the Scottish landscape means that much of the social and economic activity has a coastal bias. The importance of the coast is further highlighted by the wide range of ecosystem services that coastal habitats provide. It follows that the threat posed by coastal erosion and flooding has the potential to have a substantial effect...

The existence of extreme waves, as observed by seafarers, has been confirmed by data recording and modeling to be more common than previously assumed. Extreme waves mainly occur during major storms at sea by means of constructive interference of wave trains or by nonlinear wave interaction, but extreme waves may also be associated with tsunami or m...

The existence of extreme waves, as observed by seafarers, has been confirmed by data recording and modelling to be more common than previously assumed. Extreme waves mainly occur during major storms at sea by means of constructive interference of wave trains or by non-linear wave interaction but extreme waves may also be associated with tsunami or...

Abstract: Polar and subpolar coasts are distinctive owing to the presence of ice on land as permafrost, ground ice and glacier ice, and in the sea as tidewater glaciers, icebergs, ice shelves and sea ice. Most of these coasts remain glaciated or are recently deglaciated so their geomorphology carries a strong glacial signature. The morphogenetic en...

Glacier changes on South Georgia since the late-19th century documented in historical photographs South Georgia is one of the few landmasses in the Southern Ocean. It provides a crucial geographical datapoint for glacier responses to climate change over different timescales. As part of an ongoing glacier inventory of the island, we are compiling a...

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Coastal margin habitats (sand dunes and beaches, machair, saltmarsh, shingle and beaches, maritime cliffs) constitute a transition zone between terrestrial and marine habitats. They are doubly sensitive to climate change, experiencing changes in rainfall, temperature, storminess, etc., but also habitat loss due to coastal erosion...

It is accepted that relative sea-level change is not the reverse of vertical land (crustal) movement, and that the interpretation of an observed reduction in isostatic rebound on the basis of the data presented in Rennie, A.F. and Hansom, J.D. (2011) 'Sea level trend reversal: land uplift outpaced by sea level rise on Scotland's coast' Geomorpholog...

We constrain the deglaciation history of the Monadhliath Mountains since the Last Glacial Maximum using glacial geomorphology and surface exposure dating. Collectively these data clarify the glacial history of the Monadhliath Mountains at the close of the Devensian cold period. 10Be exposure ages indicate deglaciation of the Last Devensian ice shee...

The Conference, ‘Engaging with Geodiversity—Why it Matters’, December 2010, addressed the wider relevance of geodiversity in Scotland. A key challenge is to integrate geodiversity within existing policy relating to the way we work and live, and therefore to inform better the decisions we make about a sustainable future for our environment. This wil...

Polar and subpolar coasts are distinctive because of extreme seasonality and the presence of ice (predominantly tidewater glaciers, ice shelves, sea ice, and ground ice). Sea ice plays a protective role but may be either erosional or constructive when mobile. Wave activity, though effective mainly during the short summer, imposes a strong morpholog...

Coastal geodiversity, the geological and geomorphological processes and landforms of estuaries and coasts, is of vital importance as providing not only protection from marine processes such as storm waves but also the foundations for sustaining the integrity and biodiversity of ecosystems along our shores. Since the characteristics and functioning...

A widely held belief persists that rising land levels since the latter part of the last glaciation will help safeguard much of the Scottish coast from the impact of global sea level rise. Although the landforms of much of Scotland's coast reflect long-term land uplift, recent investigations show that uplift rates are now modest and are less than ri...

1. Scotland has approximately 71% of Britain’s dunes (including machair) by area, 60% of sea cliff by length, 13% of saltmarsh by area and less than 5% of shingle by length. Information on lagoons is currently deficient. 2. Coasts are dynamic habitats where change is inevitable. However, difficulties associated with establishing baseline data in te...

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Scheffers et al. (2009) describe a reconnaissance survey of boulder accumulations along parts of the Atlantic coasts of the British Isles. A substantial part of their report concerns the characteristics of wave-transported boulder deposits found high above sea level on cliffs. These boulder deposits reach perhaps their ultimate development along th...

Cliff-top storm deposits (CTSDs) are known to occur on cliffs at elevations of up to 50 m above sea level at exposed sites on the deep-water coasts of the British Isles. Eye-witness accounts and time-series field mapping of CTSDs demonstrate their formation over the historical period and their continued modification during major storms, with CTSDs...

Systematic documentation of climatic change using historical records of glacier fluctuations in North Norway is complicated by the strong topographic control exerted on glacier and ice-cap development in plateau regions. Ice avalanches from high plateaux maintain valley glaciers up to 600 m below in the surrounding valleys. Ice-marginal recession d...

The stone runs of the Falkland Islands are thought to be periglacial blockfields but their age and detailed origin remain enigmatic. We examine the fine sediments that underlie two stone runs in order to establish whether Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating is an appropriate technique to constrain the date of emplacement of the fine sedi...

The Grind of the Navir is an ignimbrite headland on the exposed Atlantic coast of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. During storms, offshore wave heights exceed 20 m and deep water close inshore allows high-energy waves to impact on these cliffs. The cliff top at ∼ 15 m above sea level is awash with wave water when wave heights exceed 8 m, a condition...

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The relationship between reflectance and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) is dependent upon the wavebands sensed and the viewing geometry of the sensor. The laboratory experiment reported in this paper investigated these dependences. The reflectance in four wavebands (two visible and two near-infrared) of a large water-filled and wave-free ta...

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of sand has been used to identify periods of enhanced aeolian activity at two coastal archaeological sites in Orkney that coincide with periods of Holocene climatic deterioration recorded elsewhere in both Scotland and W Europe. Areas of Tofts Ness, Sanday were settled from the Neolithic, abandoned in...

Luminescence dating has been applied in the past to several tsunami deposits, notably from Northern Australia, the Scilly Isles, Scotland and Chile. Providing initial signals levels are close to zero, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is a promising method for dating palaeo-tsunami sediments, and providing an indication of past frequen...

We mapped and dated the glacial geomorphology of north-east South Georgia, in the maritime sub-Antarctic. The aim was to examine the timing of deglaciation of the island in the context of inter-hemispheric phasing of climate change. Former glacier limits are restricted to the inner fjords, and our detailed mapping of them has demonstrated a consist...

Numerous studies have employed anthropogenic radionuclides deposited in accumulating sediments to derive chronologies for use in investigations of geomorphological processes and in reconstructing temporal trends in contaminant deposition. However, relatively few have interrogated their use in systems that erode as well as accrete sediment, or have...