On the last week of 2025- when I was already away on holiday, we had a paper published in the new journal Coastal Futures from Cambridge University Press & Assessment. The paper, a rapid communication on the effects of hashtag#Tropical_Cyclone Alfred on One Tree Reef, shows for the first time that Spurs and Grooves on forereefs can act as channels to bring sediment onto reef flats. While grooves (the channels of spur and groove systems) have long been suspected to play a role in sediment dynamics, the prevailing view has been that it is “impossible” for rubble to move upslope through them to the reef flat. These findings carry implications for sediment budgets, interpretations of past reef-building processes and forecasts of reef and shingle island evolution under climate change.

Vila-Concejo A, Perris LA, Silva AP da, Whitton K, Meoded-Stern L, Steilberg-Liu W-Y, Holmes R, Breuer H, Byrne M, Fellowes TE, Salles T, Morris BD and Bruce E (2025) Grooves in forereefs act as transport channels to deliver coral rubble during tropical cyclones. Cambridge Prisms: Coastal Futures 3, e29. https://lnkd.in/g5N2QM4e.

#coral_reefs #coast #tropical_cyclone #climate_change #coral_rubble #ecomorphodynamics #biomorphodynamics #biogeomorphology #spurs_grooves