Coastal Geomorphology and Tourism on the German North Sea Coast

Abstract

The German North Sea coast consists mostly of loose sediments (Pleistocene to Holocene) including glacial till, beach and dune sands, tidal silts and clays. Young barrier islands, marsh islands (parts of the former mainland) as well as islands with morainic hills, protect the marshy mainland coasts. Spring tides are 1.8 to 3.5 m. During winter storms from the west the sea-level can rise more than 3 m above the spring tide datum. Exposure and surf energy is medium to high. Although the German North Sea islands have about 60 000 residents, they accommodate several million tourists a year. Tourism and its infrastructure and investments is their chief source of income and has affected the coastal environment directly and indirectly. On the exposed parts of the islands, coastal erosion (0.5 m/year to more than 20 m/year) endangers the settlements and tourist infrastructure. During the past 130 years, groynes, tetrapods and concrete seawalls have been constructed, and a total of US$3.3 billion spent on coastal protection. Since 1951 artificial beach nourishment has been used as it is cheaper than the other measures, and has less impact on the natural coastal environment. The marshy mainland is protected by dikes which total more than 1000 km.KeywordsTidal FlatCoastal ErosionGerman BightCoastal ProtectionBeach NourishmentThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.