Controls on coastal bluff erosion of a drowned drumlin field: Boston Harbor, Massachusetts

Abstract

Eroding coastal bluffs pose significant risks to coastal communities, and an improved understanding of their erosional processes and mechanisms is essential for developing effective management strategies. The Boston Harbor Islands comprise more than two dozen drowned drumlins that were formed during the late-Pleistocene, many of which are now connected by spits. Exposed bluffs on the islands experience erosion due to waves and precipitation and are increasingly threatened by accelerating sea-level rise (SLR). Retreat rates for 31 bluffs along the drumlin shore, derived from orthoimagery (1995–2021) using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System add-in for ArcMap 10.8, range from 0.0 m/yr to 1.5 m/yr. These rates were examined in relation to several factors, including shoreline orientation, significant wave height during extratropical storms, till matrix composition, base elevation, bluff height, and presence of engineering structures. Clusters of bluffs with similar characteristics were identified, suggesting that high retreat rates coincide with bluffs that experience high wave energy, face the northeast and have high sand-to-mud ratios. The complexity of the Boston Harbor drumlin field and the variability of individual factors controlling erosion highlights the impracticality of developing a universal statistical model for predicting erosion rates. Rather a more suitable approach involves assessing trends among clusters of bluffs with similar characteristics. A similar approach can be taken for exploring the variability in retreat rates along other coastlines with complex or irregular bluff systems and wave fields.