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Salt marshes can act as a first line of coastal defence against storm surges. They can even go so far as to lower the risk of the coastline suffering from the impacts of climate change, such as from rising sea levels. But how, why and where does this happen?

The NERC RESIST project aims to determine just that and investigate the variability in the resistance of salt marshes to extreme wave, tide, and storm conditions. The BGS coastal vulnerability dataset will assist in this as it combines multiple hazards found along the coast of England and Wales. It represents the natural geological coastline as if no coastal defences are present. It will be used to develop methods for mapping salt marsh resistance across space and time for any given sea level, wave and tide conditions.

Equipped with this information we can help improve coastal protection and protect vulnerable coastal communities.

In August 2018 the research team head to Hannover and one of the largest indoor flumes in the world: Large Wave Channel of the Coastal Research Center. There they will simulate the impact of storm waves on salt marsh soil and vegetation under laboratory conditions.

More information can be found here, and at the links below.

https://www.nerc-resist.uk/

https://thesaltmarshexperiment.wordpress.com/about-2/

https://twitter.com/NercResist