The erosion rates of cliffs along the Sussex coast have rapidly sped up in the last 200 years, a new study has found. The research shows that the erosion rates along Beachy Head and Seaford Head in Sussex had remained relatively stable, at around two to six centimetres each year, for thousands of years. Cliff erosion is irreversible; once the cliffs retreat, they are gone for good.
This isotope is created when cosmic radiation reacts with oxygen atoms in the exposed flint rock, so by measuring its accumulation, it acts as a kind of rock clock to show the rate of rock erosion. Since the rate of accumulation has previously been relatively constant, measuring rock samples from across the shore platforms allowed researchers to build a record of how coastal erosion has proceeded over the last 7000 years or so.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
February 2017
Categories |