Coastal Erosion at Berakas
Full Title : Investigation of the rates of coastal cliff erosion at Berakas
Project Number : UBD/GSR/S&T/25
Start Date : October 2010
End Date : March 2012
Project leaders : William Duane and Gabriel Yong
Graduate Student : Maurice Boon
Budget : B$83,314
Brief Outline
Coastal processes are responsible for high rates of erosion of soft, unconsolidated landforms, typical of that which dominates the Brunei Darussalam coastline exposed to the South China Sea. Knowledge of how much material is being eroded and greater understanding of the processes involved are of considerable importance. This research project will provide a means to develop a first-stage model to investigate coastal sediment dynamics associated with the Berakas area.
The major aim of this research is to quantify and map the amount of material lost from the cliffs. A number of surveys over a period of twelve months, using a servo-driven, reflectorless, scanning total station (Trimble S6) will provide a series of X,Y and Z points such that digital elevation models can be constructed. Spatially-referenced volume loss can then be calculated. Additionally, cliff material will be sampled at various points to determine characteristics and any relationships between material properties and erosion rates can be assessed. Ancillary climate data will be used to examine any links between erosion rates and any weather-related events.