UK Gravel Barrier Project Rapid Evidence Assessment Result 2024

This dataset contains the baseline of evidence identified at the beginning of the UKGravelBarriers project. In this dataset, you will find four spreadsheets, which include peer-reviewed publications, PhD theses, grey literature and geospatial resources. This dataset is part of the UKGravelBarriers project, led by the British Geological Survey, which looks at how gravel barriers—those natural ridges of stones and pebbles along the coast—behave and change over time. These barriers are important because they help protect coastal communities from flooding and erosion, especially as climate change brings rising seas and stronger storms. The goal of this work was to give decision-makers clear, evidence-based information about how these gravel barriers might evolve in the future. To do this, the team carried out a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA). Think of an REA as a fast but structured way to review lots of scientific studies and reports to find the most relevant facts. Each spreadsheet contains further information about how the different evidence relate to each one of the six research questions. RQ#1 How do decadal-scale morphodynamics of gravel barriers respond to changes in sea level, storminess and sediment supply, and influence coastal evolution? How will this impact the ecosystems they support? RQ#2 Under future climate change, will the coastal protection role of gravel barriers be compromised, potentially triggering management interventions? RQ#3 When and how does sediment transport on gravel barriers differ from more well studied sand cases? RQ#4 What is the internal structure and composition of gravel beaches and how do variations in composition influence beach morphology and dynamics? RQ#5 What is the role of hydraulic conductivity in influencing barrier behaviour? RQ#6 Can we quantify the critical interactions between gravel barriers and the back-barrier environment (marsh, lagoon, estuary), as well as the interplay between gravel barriers and coastal structures?

Date (Creation): 2026-01-08

Citation identifier: http://data.bgs.ac.uk/id/dataHolding/13608600

Point of contact

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	not available	Distributor
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	not available	Originator
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	enquiries@bgs.ac.uk	Distributor
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	enquiries@bgs.ac.uk	Originator
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	not available	Distributor
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	not available	Point of contact

Maintenance and update frequency: notApplicable

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

Geology

BGS Thesaurus of Geosciences

NGDC Deposited Data
Climate change
data.gov.uk (non-INSPIRE)
Citable Data
Decision methods
Coastal management
Literature reviews
Reviews

dataCentre

Keywords

NERC_DDC

Access constraints: Other restrictions

Other constraints: licenceOGL

Other constraints: Available under the Open Government Licence subject to the following acknowledgement accompanying the reproduced NERC materials "Contains NERC materials ©NERC [year]"

Use constraints: Other restrictions

Other constraints: The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of the copyright holder, via the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Manager. Use by customers of information provided by the BGS, is at the customer's own risk. In view of the disparate sources of information at BGS's disposal, including such material donated to BGS, that BGS accepts in good faith as being accurate, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the quality or accuracy of the information supplied, or to the information's suitability for any use. NERC/BGS accepts no liability whatever in respect of loss, damage, injury or other occurence however caused.

Other constraints: Available under the Open Government Licence subject to the following acknowledgement accompanying the reproduced NERC materials "Contains NERC materials ©NERC [year]"

Language: English

Topic category

Geoscientific information

Begin date: 2024-10-20

End date: 2025-04-30

Reference System Information

No information provided.

Distribution format

Name	Version
Microsoft Excel	365

Distributor contact

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	not available	Distributor

Distributor contact

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	enquiries@bgs.ac.uk	Distributor

Distributor contact

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	not available	Distributor

OnLine resource

Protocol	Linkage	Name
WWW:DOWNLOAD-1.0-http--download	https://webapps.bgs.ac.uk/services/ngdc/accessions/index.html#item191145

OnLine resource

Protocol	Linkage	Name
WWW:LINK-1.0-http--related	https://doi.org/10.5285/d9cabca7-8409-4c75-963e-65f053822a9b	Citation Information - Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

Hierarchy level: Non geographic dataset

Other: non geographic dataset

Conformance result

Title: INSPIRE Implementing rules laying down technical arrangements for the interoperability and harmonisation of Geology

Date (Publication): 2011

Explanation: See the referenced specification

Pass: No

Conformance result

Title: Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services

Date (Publication): 2010-12-08

Explanation: See http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:323:0011:0102:EN:PDF

Pass: No

Statement: The UKGravelBarriers dataset was developed through a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) protocol to compile information on UK gravel barrier systems. It involved defining a scope based on DEFRA guidance, systematically searching academic and grey literature, and screening records using AI assisted tools and manual validation. The full methodology has been described in a dedicated report available via NORA here: https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/540487/