Cliff erosion - How much do we really know about it

In this paper, the current state of art research on coastal cliff erosion is briefly reviewed. It is shown that apart from the mean erosion rate which is predictable at the sites where long-term erosion data are available, time-dependent erosion and erosion statistics are not yet predictable. The existing methods either do not address completely the problem or rely on parameterizations that are inadequate for describing beach-cliff system dynamics. Some alternative approaches are suggested and discussed.