Coastal erosion is of major concern for society. Our study focused on rocky coasts, where coastal evolution remains poorly understood. We utilized the increasing number of erosion-related data and compiled them to better understand how and to what degree rocky coasts erode. We found that rock resistance primarily explained erosion rates, whilst the influence of the climate and sea was secondary. Weak rock coasts lose a median of 23 meters per century, about ten times more than hard rock coasts.

In this paper, artificial model tests were used to observe the changes of soil moisture content and pore water pressure, as well as macroscopic and microscopic phenomena of gravel soil. In addition, the mathematical formula of the critical state was derived from the triaxial test data. Finally, the mechanical states of gravel soil were determined. In the process of landslide initiation, dilatation and contraction were two types of gravel soil state, but dilatation was dominant.

We present 18 new cosmogenic radionuclide samples collected from modern river sand and dated Holocene terrace and floodplain deposits from the Ganga River at the Himalayan mountain front, which display a notable degree of temporal variability. This variability is explored using field observations and numerical and statistical analysis. We propose that the observed variability is driven by the nature of stochastic inputs of sediment and the evacuation timescales of individual sediment deposits.

Where alpine glaciers were active in the past, they have created scenic landscapes that are likely in the process of morphing back into a form that it more stable with today's climate regime and tectonic forces. By looking at older erosion rates from before the time of large alpine glaciers and erosion rates since deglaciation in the Olympic Mountains (USA), we find that the topography and erosion rates have not drastically changed despite the impressive glacial valleys that have been carved.

What controls the size and shape of a river – its width, depth, and slope? The cross-sectional channel geometry of gravel-bedded rivers is understood to be a function of the river's fluid shear stress and the weight of the average particle on its bed; however, there is no satisfactory explanation for sand-bedded rivers. We analyze global datasets and individual river profiles and propose that accounting for riverbank cohesion could allow for an explanation for sand-bedded river channel geometry.

This article presents a new technique for computer simulation of slope forms. The method provides a way to study how events that disturb soil or turn rock into soil add up over time to produce landforms. The model represents a cross section of a hypothetical landform as a lattice of cells, each of which may represent air, soil, or rock. Despite its simplicity, the model does a good job of simulating a range of common of natural slope forms.

The new, free and easy-to-use tools in this paper (GEEDiT, GEEDiT-Reviewer and MaQiT) allow users to visualise, map and review margins from full satellite records of Landsat 4–8 and Sentinel 1–2 in addition to quantifying these margin changes with unprecedented speed. This allows previously prohibitive volumes of remote-sensing data to be analysed easily, flexibly and rapidly. These tools have potential applications across the geosciences for the exploration and analysis of satellite imagery.

Seismic monitoring of active landslides enables the detection of microseismic signals generated by slope activity. We propose a classification of microseismic signals observed at two active clay-rich debris slides and a simple method to constrain their source origin and their size based on their signal amplitudes. A better understanding of landslide-induced microseismicity is crucial for the development of early warning systems based on landslide-induced microseismic signal precursors.

Rivers can reveal information about erosion rates, tectonics, and climate. In order to make meaningful inferences about these influences, one must be able to compare headwaters to downstream parts of the river network. We describe new methods for normalizing river steepness for drainage area to better understand how rivers record erosion rates in eroding landscapes.

Channel bends and bars make up an important physical and ecological unit within rivers. Many riparian vegetation species need river bars for their life cycle, colonizing bars after flooding events. Once vegetation is established on bars, they can alter the flow and patterns of erosion and deposition. We used a hydraulic model to quantify the impact such riparian vegetation of various sizes and densities has on flow dynamics and inferred the expected changes in river erosion and deposition.

On 21 July 2014, a voluminous landslide entered the caldera lake at Askja, Iceland, and created tsunami waves inundating famous tourist spots. The high hazard potential of the site motivated our study in which we analysed seismic data and found a precursory tremor signal intensifying in the 30 min before the landslide. Our paper shows the potential of seismic monitoring techniques to detect precursory activity before a big landslide that could be used for an early-warning system.

Here we provide the first results on the evolution of the Ayeyarwady delta, the last unstudied megadelta of Asia. In addition to its intrinsic value as a founding study on the Holocene development of this region, we advance new ideas on the climate control of monsoonal deltas as well as describe for the first time a feedback mechanism between tectonics and tidal hydrodynamics that can explain the peculiarities of the Ayeyarwady delta.

This research presents a new method for quantifying the geologic controls on modern barrier island evolution. We used statistical time series analysis to evaluate the scale-dependent vs. scale-independent behavior of a barrier island in southern Texas, USA. By integrating subsurface geophysical with surface geomorphological measurements, we show that the island exhibits both free and forced evolutionary behavior that has important implications for how the island may respond to rising sea levels.

This article is a contribution to a special issue on Two centuries of modelling across scales. It describes the historical observations, evolving hypotheses, and early calculations that led to the development of the field of glacial isostatic sdjustment (GIA) modelling, which seeks to understand feedbacks between ice-sheet change, sea-level change, and solid Earth deformation. Recent and future advances are discussed. Future progress will likely involve an interdisciplinary approach.