CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Catto, N.R.
Date : 2001.
Title : Coastal hazards in insular Newfoundland.
Publication : St. John's 2001. Geological Association of Canada - Mineralogical Association of Canada 2001 Joint Annual Meeting / l'Association géologique du Canada - l'Association minéralogique du Canada réunion annuelle conjointe. Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland, May 27-30 2001.
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Abstract
The coastline has been and remains the focus of economic and social activity throughout insular Newfoundland. Coastal management issues, particularly hazard assessment and mitigation, are central concerns to many Newfoundland residents and communities. Enhanced utilization of the coastal zone for tourism has resulted in increased exposure of people to coastal hazards. Significant environmental coastal hazards include southwesterly hurricanes (all areas exposed to the south or west); late autumn and winter storms, accompanied by freezing rain (particularly areas exposed to the north or east);and seasonal ice shove (several areas north of Spaniards Bay and Bonne Bay). So-called "rogue" waves, not directly connected to particular storm events, also represent a significant hazard to infrastructure and life along the coastline. Annual significant wave height approximates 7 m, and the embayed nature of the coast results in reflective, moderate-to-high energy, wave-dominated shorelines in the majority of embayments. Both factors intensify the hazard represented by storm waves. The effect of ongoing climate change on storm frequency and intensity is unknown, and is the subject of ongoing investigations. Incremental progressive coastal erosion, induced by combinations of infrastructure and residential construction, removal of sediment for aggregate, interruption of longshore drift, and rising sea level throughout all of southern and central Newfoundland, has resulted in the creation of significant coastal hazards at several localities. The maximum rates of sea level rise estimated for the Avalon Peninsula exceed 5 mm/a, facilitating erosion of bluffs of Quaternary sediment. Local erosion rates approximate 50 cm/a, although much annual variability exists. The potential for contamination of the coastline through accidents involving petroleum represents another significant coastal hazard. Further research is required into the geomorphological and sedimentological aspects of petroleum contamination from both marine and terrestrial sources. Although geomorphically significant storms have battered the shoreline throughout recent years, the 28 deaths caused by the 1929 Burin Tsunami represent the most recent coastal disaster in insular Newfoundland. Study of coastal geomorphic hazards in Newfoundland has been ongoing for more than 20 years. Unfortunately, the lack of an immediate catastrophe may contribute to the general limitation of knowledge outside of the Quaternary geoscience community. The potential for future disaster is real, however: the hurricane winds and waves of September 1775 may have killed as many as 4000 Newfoundlanders.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology