During the winter storms at Abermawr, the high pebble bank that runs across the valley, effectively protecting the Holocene peat bog from the sea, has undergone great changes during the 2021/2022 winter storms. They haven't finished yet.........
There has been a huge amount of erosion, and I think the sandy beach has been lowered substantially -- but the most interesting features right now are these parallel corrugations which occur along the full width of the pebble embankment, on both flanks of the rocky outcrop. The channels nearly all contain streams carrying water from the impounded bog down onto the beach, and they also channel incoming waves and concentrate erosive action as the backwash carries huge quantities of cobbles and pebbles seawards. But how do they originate? And why are they so regularly spaced? I am more than a little puzzled.......
At the moment there is no sign of the submerged forest, but maybe when we get the next spring tide something might be visible.
3 comments:
You have an understandable academic interest in this whole process. But is there an institution that will be keeping an informed eye on what is happening to both the peat bog and the coastline at Abermawr?
There is enormous coastal retreat going on at Abermawr, no doubt watched and monitored by the NPA and by Natural Resources Wales. The policy is to observe but not intervene, because no properties or livelihoods are affected. I think that's the right policy. At Abereiddi there used to be rather a smart car park -- but the wall that defended its seaward edge was destroyed in a storm many years ago, and the car park has never been restored or rebuilt. I reckon the NPA and PCC decided it was a losing battle.....
.......such is the power of Mother Nature forces. Shifting bluestones was a doddle. Even Donald Trump will eventually agree! As for the Flat - Earther bunch from UCL.....
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