Coastal Landscape Change Research Articles

Landscape evolution during Holocene transgression of a mid‐latitude low‐relief coastal plain: The southern North Sea

AbstractLow‐relief coastal landscapes are at major risk of rising sea levels, as vertical changes in relative sea level have far‐reaching lateral effects. Integration of a dense 2D grid of seismic reflection data with sedimentological and geotechnical data obtained in two offshore wind farm zones allows detailed documentation of postglacial landforms and environmental change over a 1,021 km2 area in the western sector of the southern North Sea. Following the retreat of Last Glacial Maximum ice sheets from the southern North Sea, the resulting postglacial terrestrial landscape provided a surface for peatland formation as climate started to warm and the water table rose in response to relative sea‐level rise. Southward‐draining fluvial networks formed contemporaneously with the peatlands, and remnants of this terrestrial wetland landscape are buried beneath Holocene marine sediments. Distinctive isolated incisional features and discrete widening of fluvial channels that cut through the peats are interpreted as either tidal ponds or relict tidal channels. These features record the evolution of this landscape through the Early Holocene as marine transgression inundated a low‐relief coastal plain. The erosion of the peatlands observed in the cores, the patchy preservation of the organic wetland landscape, and the lack of preserved barrier systems recorded by the seismic reflection data suggest that the rate of relative sea‐level rise outpaced sediment supply during the Late Postglacial and Early Holocene in this area of the southern North Sea. In a regional context, the southward draining river channels contrast to northward fluvial drainage to the North Sea, pointing to a subtle drainage divide in the palaeolandscape and the presence of a low‐relief land bridge separating the North Sea and the English‐Channel/La Manche during the Early Holocene. The documented scenario of rising sea levels combined with decreasing sediment supply in a low‐relief setting is a situation faced by many global deltas and coastlines, which makes the southern North Sea a crucial archive of coastal landscape change.

Calibrating Holocene human–environment interactions using ancient narratives: The example of Ngurunderi in South Australia

The essence of stories of human–environment interactions can be preserved in oral contexts for millennia, creating novel opportunities for humanizing the past. This study examines stories (knowledge-rich narratives) about the ancestral being Ngurunderi, told by Ngarrindjeri peoples of South Australia. Three elements of the Ngurunderi narrative are considered. The first recalls his journey along a 170-km long coastal barrier (Younghusband Peninsula) when this was continuous. The second discusses Ngurunderi’s encounters with what are now islands off the Fleurieu Peninsula, some of which he created, interpreted as memories of when sea level was lower and “islands” were contiguous with the mainland. The third refers to the crossing of a land connection between modern Kangaroo Island and the Fleurieu Peninsula, later submerged to form Backstairs Passage. Using paleogeographic data, the most recent times at which each narrative element could have taken place and observed by people are estimated. This research suggests that: (1) stories about Younghusband Peninsula may be >6700 years cal BP; (2) islands off the Fleurieu Peninsula were created 6800–10,400 cal BP; and (3) submergence of Backstairs Passage occurred 11,000–10,100 cal BP. Narratives are linked to the period of early Holocene sea-level rise, the rapid 8200-cal BP sea-level rise event, and stabilization of sea level 7000–6000 cal BP. These narratives humanize the past and provide information that can be interpreted as both observed coastal and seascape changes as well as past human responses to rising sea level that can inform our future encounters with coastal-landscape change.

Coastal Morphodynamics and Climate Change: A Review of Recent Advances

The shape of the coast and the processes that mold it change together as a complex system. There is constant feedback among the multiple components of the system, and when climate changes, all facets of the system change. Abrupt shifts to different states can also take place when certain tipping points are crossed. The coupling of rapid warming in the Arctic with melting sea ice is one example of positive feedback. Climate changes, particularly rising sea temperatures, are causing an increasing frequency of tropical storms and “compound events” such as storm surges combined with torrential rains. These events are superimposed on progressive rises in relative sea level and are anticipated to push many coastal morphodynamic systems to tipping points beyond which return to preexisting conditions is unlikely. Complex systems modeling results and long-term sets of observations from diverse cases help to anticipate future coastal threats. Innovative engineering solutions are needed to adapt to changes in coastal landscapes and environmental risks. New understandings of cascading climate-change-related physical, ecological, socioeconomic effects, and multi-faceted morphodynamic systems are continually contributing to the imperative search for resilience. Recent contributions, summarized here, are based on theory, observations, numerically modeled results, regional case studies, and global projections.

A compromised shore: seachange migration and landscape politics on the Central Coast of New South Wales, 1945–2001

The second half of the twentieth century saw major coastal landscape changes around Australia driven by seachange migration. This article examines the experience of New South Wales’ Central Coast, whose population increased nearly tenfold and was the site of ongoing debates about environmental risk and loss. Over time, a compromise emerged regionally and nationally that allowed continuing coastal migration but with distinct bounds on further development. This article examines how this compromise accompanied the rise of the Australian environmental state, melded with the institutionalisation of the sustainability movement, and can be placed in a broader history of political settlements.

Ocean-human relations in the Anthropocene: mapping trends in sustainability-related marine social sciences articles

Research about ocean-human relations has significantly increased in recent years. Compared to other disciplines in the oceanic realm, the marine social sciences, as an umbrella term for diverse disciplines and research streams dealing with ocean-human relations, however only recently gained more attention. In this light, the UN Ocean Decade stresses marine social science’s pivotal role in assessing future trajectories toward more sustainable ocean-human relations. Our study aims to identify research trends in sustainability-related marine social sciences. Therefore, we thoroughly analyzed the metadata of 1,215 peer-reviewed articles published between 1991 and 2023 and retrieved from the Web of Sciences (WoS) database by applying various bibliometric analysis methods. Our study provides insights into (1) the scientific production of sustainability-related marine social sciences and its evolution (2) the main topics and research streams of sustainability-related marine social sciences, and (3) how these topics developed over time. The findings demonstrate a significant increase in annual scientific production as time progressed, with some countries and institutions contributing more than others. We identified, discussed, and visualized six research streams: (1) Perceptions and benefits of marine conservation; (2) Fisheries, aquaculture, and food security; (3) Climate change and climate change responses; (4) Coastal landscape and land use change; (5) Coastal and marine management; and (6) Development and ocean-human health. Based on those discussions, our study points to four future avenues for research and discussions marine social sciences could potentially build on. These include (1) strengthening the capacity of sustainability-related marine social sciences; (2) enhancing cross-country studies and cooperation; (3) fostering dialogue between marine natural and social scientists; and (4) making (more) sense of sustainability-related marine social science’s epistemic features.

Analisis Kerentanan Lanskap Pesisir di Kecamatan Kuta Selatan, Bali

Vulnerability Analysis of Land Changes in Coastal Landscapes in Kuta Selatan District, Bali. Kuta Selatan District is a district located in the southern coastal part of Bali Province. Its existence in a coastal area makes this area rich in natural resources but also has a high level of vulnerability to damage, change, or disappearance of an ecosystem. This study aim to analyze the vulnerability of the landscape based on land cover changes in Kuta Selatan District and analyze the driving factors of landscape change. Land cover is classified into 4 (water bodies, vegetation areas, open areas, and built areas. Land cover change analysis used Landsat 7 ETM+ image data with test years 2000, 2010, and 2020. The spatial analysis method was used to analyze the land cover changes that occurred. The results showed that the rate of land cover change that occurs in Kuta Selatan District from 2000 to 2020 is 3-4% per year with dominated by increasing of open areas and built-up areas respectively. Meanwhile, the area of vegetation and water bodies has always experienced a decrease in area. This study also analyzes the driving factors of land cover change using the binary logistic regression analysis method. 7 variables are thought to affect changes in land cover that occur, namely distance to the main road (X1), distance to the river (X2), altitude/elevation (X3), slope (X4), population density (X5), distance from state universities (X6) and distance to tourist attractions (X7). The analysis results show that only the distance variable to the main road (X1) influences changes that occur in the 2000-2020 range. Supervision and policies that favor the sustainability of the existence of vegetation areas are the main focus of the recommendations.

Does flood protection affect urban expansion in the coastal flood-prone area of China?

Understanding the characteristics of urbanization under different flood protection levels is vital for sustainable development in coastal flood-prone areas (CFAs). However, little is known about the potential divergences of coastal urbanization across different flood protection levels in the CFAs of China. To fill this research gap, this study investigated the spatio-temporal changes of urban land expansion in Chinese CFAs and explored their relationships with flood protection levels during 2000–2020. It was found that in 2020, the urban lands accounted for 16.35% of the CFAs, 1.81 times that of the non-CFAs (9.04%). The urban lands increased rapidly in the CFAs across all flood protection levels, with an average annual change rate of 6.51%, which was 2.17 times that of non-CFAs (3.00%) and 3.68 times that of the exposed population growth rate (1.77%). Particularly in counties with low flood protection levels (<50 years), the urban lands expanded by 9.40% annually, 1.44 times that of the whole CFAs; moreover, a large portion (39.58%) of the new urban lands were reclaimed from sea waters. These findings suggest that special attention should be paid to coastal landscape changes in the areas of low flood protection levels to reduce flood risk and ensure sustainable cities and communities. Flood adaptation strategies should be applied to include conserving the coastal ecosystem.

Tracking changes in extent and distribution of tropical coastal covers using simple semi-supervised classification

New and more complex methods of classification and monitoring of land cover change are developed daily. But simpler strategies could be sufficient for the tasks, more accessible to geographic analysts, and more interpretable to end-users at local-regional scales. This article uses a sequence of simple thresholds of spectral indices to obtain a coarse classification of four coarse coastal covers predominant in many tropical regions: water, mangrove, tidal, and sand. This semi-supervised method was used to (1) obtain current and historical classifications of Iscuandé and Guapi River Mouths, Colombia, and (2) measure the change in extension and distribution of coastal covers across 36 years (1984–2019). The overall accuracy of simple thresholding was high (85%), but lower than four machine learning algorithms (RF, CART, SVM, and GTB, ranging from 94 to 96%). Vegetation and water were classified with higher accuracy (97%), while tidal and sandy bare soils have lower accuracy (87 and 79% respectively). The simplicity of the current method allows the detection of temporal and spatial changes in coastal covers. Moreover, tidal flats and sandy bare soil increased an overall 42% and 83% respectively representing 743 ha of new bare soils during 36 years. Larger growth occurred in the early nineties and while changes were heterogeneous in magnitude, most of the localities studied show an overall increase in tidal and sand. Performance of simple thresholding could be improved using an alternative combination of indices, especially for bare soils, optimal adjustment of thresholds, object-oriented classification, or different strategies for building image mosaics. However, we believe this simple approach could aid the exploration of changes in coastal landscapes with sparse coverage of optical imagery and a lack of ground surveys.

Examining coastal sense of place through community geography in Island County, Washington

The world’s coastlines are changing, partly the result of population growth and shoreline development (e.g., infrastructure). Coastal landscape changes are reflected and experienced at the local scale, where landscape modifications and their impacts take place. Island County, Washington (U.S.) is experiencing such changes. Island County’s 349 kilometres of coastline are being impacted by the growing threat of coastal infrastructure, which hardens the shoreline and negatively impacts natural nearshore processes and habitats. Coastal changes also impact communities and their connections to the landscape. Through a community geography approach, this paper examines Island County residents’ coastal sense of place. Respondents overall have a strong coastal sense of place, including shared place meanings. This strong sense of place is associated with shoreline visit frequency and feelings about change. The paper’s findings demonstrate how residents feel and connect to the coastline, and why such local insights matter to coastal planning and recovery.

SeeLevelViz: A simple data science tool for dynamic visualization of shoreline displacement caused by sea-level change

We present SeeLevelViz, a free, open-source program written in Python for making interactive visualizations of relative sea-level change in landscapes and shorelines. The accurate reconstruction of shoreline positions is a crucial factor in coastal palaeolandscape studies, particularly in areas where the coast is fronted by islands, since the separation of islands from the mainland drives important ecological and sociocultural outcomes. This program creates accurate time-slice reconstructions of shoreline positions and palaeolandscapes when the user provides two components: 1) a digital elevation model of the target region (including currently submerged areas), and 2) a simple spreadsheet of relative sea-level elevations at different dates derived either from a glacio isostatic adjustment model of relative sea-level change, or from observed past sea-level data points. The tool is presented using the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea in the Mediterranean as a test case, since this region has a complex coastline articulation due to combined geological and geomorphological factors. In this area, like in many other Mediterranean coastal areas, the separation of islands from the mainland following the last glacial maximum and throughout the Holocene has occurred in connection with important phases of the development, particularly of Mesolithic and Neolithic cultures, influencing human migrations and the spread of seafaring techniques. Reliable palaeolandscape reconstructions at different time slices are thus crucial for supporting archaeological interpretation. Flexibile and user-friendly, SeeLevelViz can compliment reconstructions of coastal landscape changes either based on glacial isostatic adjustment models or on relative palaeo-sea- level evidence, since simple, interactive visualizations are a powerful technique for understanding spatial time-series data, both for the interpretation phase of research, and for presentation to colleagues and the public. The program can be modified or used freely for papers, presentations, etc. By crediting and citing this article.

Coastal landscape changes at Unguja Ukuu, Zanzibar: Contextualizing the archaeology of an early Islamic port of trade

Unguja Ukuu, located on the Zanzibar Archipelago, eastern Africa, was an active Indian Ocean trading settlement from the mid-first millennium until the early second millennium AD. As part of recent archaeological excavations aimed at understanding the site’s transregional trade networks, geoarchaeological analyses were undertaken to document the geomorphic context of the ancient settlement. Here, we outline the results of these field and laboratory studies to discuss patterns of anthropogenic sediment deposition. Unguja Ukuu’s deep coastal stratigraphy appears to record progradation of an inhabited back-reef shore from the mid-seventh to the nineth centuries AD, perhaps in the wake of an earlier middle to late Holocene marine transgression. Excavations on the back-beach show that deposits associated with the ancient settlement include interlayered middens, paleofloors, and backshore sands and, in later phases, a peri-urban dump with dark-earth-type anthrosols developed on these deposits. Coastal progradation appears to have been driven in part by the accumulation of anthropogenic detritus and compaction of ancient surfaces. We hypothesize how the inherited, submerged relic Late Pleistocene geomorphology of the intertidal zone and later Holocene sediment supply from the hinterland may have supported the emergence of Unguja Ukuu as a trading locale, and possibly contributed to its decline in the early second millennium AD.

Coastal Vegetation and Bathymetry Influence Blue Crab Abundance Across Spatial Scales

Blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) are highly mobile, ecologically-important mesopredators that support multimillion-dollar fisheries along the western Atlantic Ocean. Understanding how blue crabs respond to coastal landscape change is integral to conservation and management, but such insights have been limited to a narrow range of habitats and spatial scales. We examined how local-scale to landscape-scale habitat characteristics and bathymetric features (channels and oceanic inlets) affect the relative abundance (catch per unit effort, CPUE) of adult blue crabs across a > 33 km2 seagrass landscape in coastal Virginia, USA. We found that crab CPUE was 1.7 × higher in sparse (versus dense) seagrass, 2.4 × higher at sites farther from (versus nearer to) salt marshes, and unaffected by proximity to oyster reefs. The probability that a trapped crab was female was 5.1 × higher in sparse seagrass and 8 × higher near deep channels. The probability of a female crab being gravid was 2.8 × higher near seagrass meadow edges and 3.3 × higher near deep channels. Moreover, the likelihood of a gravid female having mature eggs was 16 × greater in sparse seagrass and 32 × greater near oceanic inlets. Overall, we discovered that adult blue crab CPUE is influenced by seagrass, salt marsh, and bathymetric features on scales from meters to kilometers, and that habitat associations depend on sex and reproductive stage. Hence, accelerating changes to coastal geomorphology and vegetation will likely alter the abundance and distribution of adult blue crabs, challenging marine spatial planning and ecosystem-based fisheries management.

Assessing foraging variability on small islands in Manu‘a (American Samoa) during the first millennium BC

ABSTRACTSmall islands are important model systems for examining the role of people in shaping novel environments and modifying resources through time. Here we report on the vertebrate faunal assemblages recovered from two sites on Ofu and Olosega islands (American Samoa), which were occupied only a few centuries after the initial settlement of the islands. We assess forager decision‐making both locally and regionally as well as changing subsistence regimes. Our results suggest foraging efforts were focused on the marine environment, particularly fish, but with concomitant evidence for interactions with terrestrial habitats (e.g. seabirds) including the introduction of commensal species (i.e. red junglefowl and Pacific rat). Notably we documented a high degree of similarity between the fish species reported archaeologically and those targeted by modern subsistence fishers in the region, which is despite the occurrence of wide scale coastal landscape changes over the past several thousand years. These preliminary outcomes may suggest fish resources have remained stable through initial occupation to the present‐day, but future zooarchaeological research is required to comprehensively evaluate the sustainability of the marine fishery over the past several millennia.

Dynamic simulation of coastal wetlands for Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay area based on multi-temporal Landsat images and FLUS model

Coastal wetlands play a vital role in coastline protection. Coastal landscape of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) has changed drastically. In order to explore the process and law of coastal landscape dynamics in GBA, in this research, multi-temporal Landsat images and proposed hybrid object-based image analysis and multi-level decision tree classification were applied to monitor the changing trends and current status of the coastal landscape in GBA from 1988 to 2018. There were 5818.58 km2 of natural wetlands in 2018, including mangroves (39.62 km2), tidal flats (73.64 km2), rivers (161.65 km2), and shallow seas (5543.67 km2). Due to the influence of anthropogenic activities, natural wetlands showed a decreasing trend, while artificial wetlands and non-wetlands have been increasing. Results indicated that the landscape in the study area showed a trend of fragmentation, the degree of landscape aggregation weakened, the dominant patches were scattered, the shape became more and more complex, and the landscape heterogeneity increased. Then, a future land use simulation model was used to simulate the coastal landscape change trends of GBA in 2028 under four scenarios. The mangrove has the fastest growth rate of 1.47 km2/a under wetland protection scenario. The tidal flat and paddy field would increase under scenarios of the wetland protection and farmland protection, respectively. The construction land has the fastest growth rate under the economic development scenario and would be 47.56 km2/a. Woodland, dry land, and culture ponds are further transformed into other landscape types, while rivers, shallow seas, and reservoirs/ponds have no obvious change.

Holocene paleogeographic evolution of an ancient port city of the central Mediterranean area: Natural and anthropogenic modifications from Salerno city, southern Italy

AbstractA multidiplisciplinary study, including geomorphological, lithostratigraphical, geochronological, geochemical, and paleontological investigations, was carried out in the coastal area of Salerno city, southern Italy. The study aimed to outline the Late Glacial‐Holocene geoenvironmental evolution of Salerno's port area in response to both natural and anthropogenic factors. The geomorphological study included an examination of historic maps, which enabled a detailed reconstruction of the coastal landscape change during historic times. Lithostratigraphical analyses of three new boreholes, supported by radiocarbon and tephrochronological data, and of previously retrieved core‐successions and archaeological trenches, extends our reconstruction of the paleogeographical evolution of the Salerno coastal area back to the Late Pleistocene. Geochemical and paleontological analyses of samples from the newly acquired cores were combined with the lithofacies analyses of previously retrieved cores to detect ancient harbors in the area of the current port facilities of the city and surrounding urban areas. This work contributes to scientific debate about the specific sedimentary architectures and geochemical properties of the Salerno harbor environment and refines methodological approaches for characterizing and assessing the evolution and demise of ancient port facilities in Mediterranean coastal cities.

Linking Holocene vegetation dynamics, palaeoclimate variability and depositional patterns in coastal successions: Insights from the Po Delta plain of northern Italy

Mediterranean deltaic-coastal plains represent relatively underexplored depositional archives that record the Holocene response of vegetation and depositional systems to high-frequency climate changes. In this study, we examine a 25 m-thick succession of Holocene age (core EM2) recovered in the innermost portion of the Po delta plain of northern Italy, applying an integrated palyno-stratigraphic approach. The existence of a paludal, freshwater setting inland of the line of maximum marine transgression favoured a low degree of pollen transportation. Application of cluster analysis to this palynological record leads to the identification of pollen-derived biomes and seven (auto)ecological groups of taxa that discriminate environmental signal (depositional facies) and regional climate conditions within a well-dated coastal record. Percentage variations of hygrophytes, aquatics and pasture-meadow herbs reveal local environmental dynamics, enabling the detailed facies characterisation of the cored succession, especially in terms of water table conditions. Framed into a chronologically constrained, high-resolution facies context, the proportion of montane taxa (climate degradation indicator) relative to Mediterranean taxa and Quercus + other deciduous trees (climate optimum indicators) highlight a vegetation-climate variability in the plain that fits with Bond events, especially for the early-mid Holocene (i.e., Preboreal and Boreal Oscillation, 8.2 ka event), supporting a strong Mediterranean–North Atlantic climate connection. For the first time, pollen from a continental succession of the Adriatic area clearly depicts the effects of the 8.2 ka cooling event on vegetation patterns (progressive degradation in high altitude communities) and depositional dynamics (increased fluvial activity), assessing the major role played by climate changes in shaping coastal landscapes in addition to glacio-eustatic variations.

Multiple habitat use by declining migratory birds necessitates joined-up conservation.

Many species depend on multiple habitats at different points in space and time. Their effective conservation requires an understanding of how and when each habitat is used, coupled with adequate protection. Migratory shorebirds use intertidal and supratidal wetlands, both of which are affected by coastal landscape change. Yet the extent to which shorebirds use artificial supratidal habitats, particularly at highly developed stopover sites, remains poorly understood leading to potential deficiencies in habitat management. We surveyed shorebirds on their southward migration in southern Jiangsu, a critical stopover region in the East Asian Australasian Flyway (EAAF), to measure their use of artificial supratidal habitats and assess linkages between intertidal and supratidal habitat use. To inform management, we examined how biophysical features influenced occupancy of supratidal habitats, and whether these habitats were used for roosting or foraging. We found that shorebirds at four of five sites were limited to artificial supratidal habitats at high tide for ~11–25 days per month because natural intertidal flats were completely covered by seawater. Within the supratidal landscape, at least 37 shorebird species aggregated on artificial wetlands, and shorebirds were more abundant on larger ponds with less water cover, less vegetation, at least one unvegetated bund, and fewer built structures nearby. Artificial supratidal habitats were rarely used for foraging and rarely occupied when intertidal flats were available, underscoring the complementarity between supratidal roosting habitat and intertidal foraging habitat. Joined‐up artificial supratidal management and natural intertidal habitat conservation are clearly required at our study site given the simultaneous dependence by over 35,000 migrating shorebirds on both habitats. Guided by observed patterns of habitat use, there is a clear opportunity to improve habitat condition by working with local land custodians to consider shorebird habitat requirements when managing supratidal ponds. This approach is likely applicable to shorebird sites throughout the EAAF.

Exploring Marine and Aeolian Controls on Coastal Foredune Growth Using a Coupled Numerical Model

Coastal landscape change represents aggregated sediment transport gradients from spatially and temporally variable marine and aeolian forces. Numerous tools exist that independently simulate subaqueous and subaerial coastal profile change in response to these physical forces on a range of time scales. In this capacity, coastal foredunes have been treated primarily as wind-driven features. However, there are several marine controls on coastal foredune growth, such as sediment supply and moisture effects on aeolian processes. To improve understanding of interactions across the land-sea interface, here the development of the new Windsurf-coupled numerical modeling framework is presented. Windsurf couples standalone subaqueous and subaerial coastal change models to simulate the co-evolution of the coastal zone in response to both marine and aeolian processes. Windsurf is applied to a progradational, dissipative coastal system in Washington, USA, demonstrating the ability of the model framework to simulate sediment exchanges between the nearshore, beach, and dune for a one-year period. Windsurf simulations generally reproduce observed cycles of seasonal beach progradation and retreat, as well as dune growth, with reasonable skill. Exploratory model simulations are used to further explore the implications of environmental forcing variability on annual-scale coastal profile evolution. The findings of this work support the hypothesis that there are both direct and indirect oceanographic and meteorological controls on coastal foredune progradation, with this new modeling tool providing a new means of exploring complex morphodynamic feedback mechanisms.

Using Artistic Imagery to Improve Understanding of Coastal Landscape Changes on the Rance Estuary (French Channel Coast)

Our coasts are subjected to constant changes due to both biophysical and anthropogenic processes, which have been severely increasing over the last two centuries. Long-term diachronic observations of geomorphological evolution should allow a better understanding of how and to what extent natural environments and cultural heritage sites have been affected over time. This paper describes the implementation of a pictures-based methodology, which provides an iconographic interpretation of decades-to-centuries coastal landscape evolution. The chosen location for the field studies is the Rance Estuary (France Channel coast), a 20-km-long ria, which has undergone specific changes because of the long-standing presence of industrial buildings such as shipyards and tide mills and the opening of the world’s first tidal power plant in the 1960s. In order to identify the entire range of alterations that have occurred on the estuarial geosystem over time, a large number of artistic representations of the shores (paintings, engravings and postcards) have been used. The vantage points of the different historical images have been located, and current photos have been taken trying to reproduce, as exactly as possible, the same view in order to allow the precise comparison of diachronic pairs of images. The results of its historical landscape record are disseminated through a dedicated website to which consultees, stakeholders and the public, more widely, may access and contribute by sending new pictures from the past. An interactive online map locates the study sites and allows access to the associated observations and comments, whilst interactive graphs give an overview of the changes that have been identified.

Coastal landscape changes pattern due to natural disasters in Pelabuhanratu District, West Java

The concept of landscape is known to be always changing dynamically because of its attachment to natural and human activities that continue to grow over time. The aim of this study is to identify landscape changes from 2010 to 2018 which are associated with natural disaster events. Coastal area is the study target on landscape changes due to natural disasters. The research took place in Pelabuhanratu District, Sukabumi Regency which is known for its varied geomorphological form and its natural disaster events occurrence including coastal floods, flash floods, and landslides. The research data was processed using ArcGIS 10.4.1 and ENVI 5.1 software. Data verification was done by field surveys in the study area. The method of this study is an overlay analysis and explained in the term of spatial dan descriptive concept. The landscape of Pelabuhanratu District is dominated by volcanic landforms and vegetation cover. The total area experiencing landscape changes is 44.47 km2 of the district total area of 91.91 km2 and major changes are involving alteration of land cover area.