Geomorphometric monitoring of eroding historic coastal landfills

Low lying, flood prone, coastal areas have historically been identified as ideal locations to dispose of landfill waste due to their low land values. It is estimated that there are in excess of 10,000 such landfills in Europe alone, many of which are now threatened with erosion as sea level rise driven by anthropogenic climate change renders flood defences ineffective. Many of these historic coastal landfills do not have records of the quantity or composition of the waste stored within them and in many of these locations waste is already being eroded into the coastal zone. The potential consequences of such waste release are wide ranging, impacting human health, coastal communities and marine ecosystems.

Geomorphometric techniques can be used to quantify volumes of released waste and landfill erosion rates, which when combined with geochemical investigation of landfill waste can form a critical component of hazard assessment, landscape management and remediation efforts. Here, we report the results of a new monitoring programme, for one such historic coastal landfill in the South East of England. This work integrates terrestrial and aerial laser scanning, aerial photography and fieldwork to constrain the volume of waste contained within this site, and estimates the rate of erosion of landfill material into the marine environment.