Dr Tony Dolphin

Research Interests

As a coastal geomorphologist Tony is interested in issues of coastal change and the processes which shape coastal sedimentary environments. He is a field scientist and has worked primarily in coastal and estuarine settings. His research interests include wave and sediment processes on beaches, the shoreface and estuarine intertidal flats, water table fluctuations on intertidal flats, design and affects of coastal engineering works on beach morphology, and the use of digital cameras for monitoring beaches and beach processes.

In 2004, Tony completed his PhD entitled Wave Induced Sediment Transport on an Estuarine Intertidal Flat. This research was motivated by earlier work in which he sought to identify the processes responsible for 'low amplitude multiple bars', about which little is known despite their commonly appearance in sandy estuaries. Tony is currently preparing papers for publication on this subject. Earlier work can be found in Dolphin et al., 1995, Marine Geology 128.

Tony joined the CPRG in 2002 as a Senior Research Associate working on the EPSRC-funded LEACOAST and EU-funded SANDPIT projects. Although recently formally completed, Tony continues to work on both of these projects and colloborates with collegues at the Universities of Utrecht (The Netherlands) and Liverpool (UK).

Currently, Tony is the Senior Research Associate on the BLINKS (Beach LINKs to Sandbanks) project and co-investigator of the new LEACOAST-2 project.
BLINKS uses high-speed digital cameras (HSDCs) to monitor shoreline and sandbank movements, and TELEMAC numerical modelling to investigate both the indirect (longshore patterns in wave energy) and direct (sediment transport paths) beach-bank linkages.
LEACOAST-2 investigates the larger scale morphodynamic impacts of segmented shore-parallel breakwaters on beaches and coasts. It stems from the smaller scale LEACOAST-1, which was concerned only with storm impacts in a single breakwater-embayment. LEACOAST-2 is a collaborative research project between the Universities of Liverpool, East Anglia and Plymouth, and the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory.
Tony is also a lecturer for the 2A6Y Oceanography course and manages the CPRG research projects and web sites.

Contact Details
School of Environmental Sciences
University of East Anglia
Norwich
NR47TJ
United Kingdom
Ph:+44 1603 593399
e: tony.dolphin@uea.ac.uk

Selected Publications & Consultancy Reports

Dolphin, T.J., Hume, T.M. and Parnell, K.E., 1993. Processes responsible for the Development of Low Amplitude Multiple Bar Systems in a Shallow Fetch Limited Coastal Lagoon. In Proceedings of the Seventeenth Conference, New Zealand Geographical Society, Wellington, New Zealand, 1: 73-80.

Dolphin, T.J., Hume, T.M. and Parnell, K.E., 1995. Oceanographic processes and sediment mixing on a sand flat in an enclosed sea, Manukau Harbour, New Zealand. Marine Geology, 128: 169-181.

Dolphin, T.J. and Green, M.O., 1997. Sediment dynamics of an estuarine "Turbid Fringe". In Proceedings of: Pacific Coasts and Ports: The combined 13th Australasian Coastal and Ocean Engineering Conference and 6th Australasian Port and Harbour Conference, 1: 113-118. Centre for Advanced Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Dolphin, T.J., Green, M.O., Radford, J.D.J and Black, K.P., 2001. Biofouling of optical backscatter sensors: Prevention and analytical correction of data. Journal of Coastal Research, 34(SI), 334–341.

Dolphin, T.J., Taylor, J.A., Vincent, C.E., Bacon, J.B., Pan, S., and O’Conner, B.A., 2004. Storm-scale effects of shore-parallel breakwaters on beaches in a tidal setting (LEACOAST). In Proceedings of the 29th International Conference on Coastal Engineering, Lisbon, Portugal, 2004, 3: 2849-2861.

Drabsch, J.M., Parnell, K.E., Hume, T.M. and Dolphin, T.J., 1999. The capillary fringe and the water table in an intertidal estuarine sand flat. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 48: 215-222.

Dumnov, S., Williams, B., Bell, R.G. and Dolphin, T.J., 1994. Oceanographic Studies for Effluent Outfall Investigation - KIWI Coop Dairies Ltd, South Taranaki Bight. NIWA Consultancy Report No. BEC002/1.

Green, M.O., Dolphin, T.J., Swales, A. and Vincent, C.E., 1999. Transport of mixed-sediments in a tidal channel. In Proceedings of: Coastal Sediments '99: Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Coastal Engineering and Science of Coastal Sediment Processes, 1: 644-658, N.C. Kraus and W.G. McDougal (Editors). American Society of Civil Engineers, Long Island, New York.

Green, M.O., Bell, R.G., Dolphin, T.J. and Swales, A.J., 2000. Silt and sand transport in a deep tidal channel of a large estuary (Manukau Harbour, New Zealand). Marine Geology, 163: 217-240.