Coast erosion is the process of wearing away material from the
coastal profile due to imbalance in the supply and export of
material from a certain section. It takes place in the form of
scouring in the foot of the cliffs or in the foot of the dunes.
Coast erosion takes place mainly during strong winds, high waves
and high tides and storm surge conditions, and results in
coastline retreat. The rate of erosion is correctly expressed in
volume/length/time, e.g. in m3/m/year, but erosion rate is often
used synonymously with coastline retreat, and thus expressed in
m/year. Erosion will take place on the shoreface and on the
beach if the export is greater than the supply of material, this
means that the level of the seabed and the beach will decrease.
The deficit can be due to both cross-shore processes and
longshore processes. Erosion due to cross-shore processes mainly
occurs during extreme events associated with storm surge, which
partially is a reversible process (this is also referred to as
dune erosion). The