The extent of coastal erosion and retreat depends on both the sea surge height and its duration. Consequently, coastal retreat was more extensive on those parts of sandbars where the beaches are lower than 3.2 m amsl. The largest changes occurred where, prior to the storm, the beach was lower than the maximum BIBW2992 mouse wave run-up. The storm-caused changes in the coastal relief observed in the monitored areas did not break

up the general tendency for foredune development. By 2013 the dunes had partly rebuilt themselves and new embryo dunes had appeared. “
“The carbon cycle is one of the most significant biogeochemical cycles as regards the flow of matter and energy in the environment. A major constituent of the carbon cycle Selumetinib datasheet is carbon dioxide (CO2). In recent decades the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased significantly as a consequence of fossil fuel combustion, which has resulted in global warming and seawater acidification (IPCC, 2007 and Chen and Borges, 2009). Takahashi et al. (2009) estimated that almost 35% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions are absorbed by seas and oceans, while

almost 1/3 of this load is absorbed by shelf seas. It has been estimated that shelf seas, including the Baltic Sea, are responsible for approximately 20% of marine organic matter production and about 80% of the total organic matter load deposited to marine sediments (Borges 2005). However, recent findings question earlier estimates regarding CO2 sequestration, at least in selected coastal seas (Kuliński & Pempkowiak 2012, Omstedt et al. 2014). One of the possible reasons is that the important pathway of material exchange between land and

ocean–Submarine Groundwater Discharge (SGD) is neglected. Although data concerning carbon concentrations and fluxes via SGD are limited (Cai et al., 2003, Santos et al., 2009, Moore, 2010 and Liu et al., 2012), it is clear that SGD must be considered an important carbon source for the marine environment. It is especially important for shelf seas, which play a significant role in the global transfer of matter and energy between land, ocean and G protein-coupled receptor kinase atmosphere (Thomas et al. 2009). The Baltic is an example of such a sea. The Baltic used to be characterised as an autotrophic semi-enclosed brackish sea (Thomas et al. 2004). Substantial amounts of nutrients, mostly from agriculture and industry, enter this sea from rivers, making the Baltic one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the world (Emelyanov, 1995 and Thomas et al., 2004). Primary production, river run-off and import from the North Sea are major sources of organic matter in the Baltic Sea (Thomas et al., 2003, Wasmund and Uhlig, 2003 and Kuliński and Pempkowiak, 2012). At the same time the Baltic is a net source of organic matter for the North Sea (Kuliński & Pempkowiak 2011). A recent study by Kuliński & Pempkowiak (2011) found the Baltic to be marginally heterotrophic.