Newcastle University researchers say sediment washed away by high waves has left the coast exposed.
Coal sediment washed away by Storm Babet has left the County Durham coastline exposed to further erosion, according to university experts.Sediment that formed over tonnes of coal which was dumped along a 12km stretch of beach from the former coalfields has been washed away.A team from the university braved the elements during the storm to document the erosion to the coal platform at Blast Beach.
"We saw waves over 4m high for 72 hours and we saw waves up to 8.5m high, so what that's done is really strip away that sediment." He said seeing the sediment disappear was "problematic" as it had left the coast exposed to more storms over the winter.For almost a century, approximately 2.5 million tonnes of coal spoil was dumped on to the coastline annually from the active coalfields.But the storm has left older brown coal spoil visible along the shoreline, with the coal platform eroded as much as 2m to the north of Blast Beach.
Dr Pitman added: "What we can see is chunks of that coal platform which is quite polluted has been ripped up and chucked either over the beach or back off shore." He fears the changes caused by Storm Babet could lead to "active erosion" of the coastal cliffs "in the coming decade."
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