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Protecting Infrastructure

From the subsea cables carrying your internet traffic to the coastal defences protecting communities, offshore infrastructure underpins modern society. Yet this critical network faces growing threats from natural hazards, many intensifying with climate change.

We combine cutting-edge marine science, from seafloor mapping to numerical modelling, to understand these hazards, assess vulnerabilities, and enhance the resilience of the infrastructure that keeps us connected, powered, and protected.

What offshore infrastructure is critical to society?

A vast array of offshore infrastructure plays a critical role in our everyday lives, extending from shallow coastal waters to the deepest parts of the ocean: 

  • Telecommunications: A network of over 1.8 million km of subsea telecommunications cables keeps us connected to the internet, carrying 99% of all digital data traffic worldwide. 
  • Energy: Offshore wind farms provide access to renewable electricity, whilst pipelines provide essential connections for energy and enable the offshore storage of carbon dioxide. 
  • Trade and commerce: Ports and harbours handle the vast majority of global trade, connecting countries to international supply chains. 
  • Coastal protection: Seawalls, breakwaters, levees, and dikes protect coastal communities and infrastructure. 

These infrastructure networks and hubs can be threatened or damaged by various natural processes that occur in the ocean, with conditions becoming more complicated and in some cases more severe as a result of climate change.

Why is protecting offshore infrastructure increasingly important?

Why is protecting offshore infrastructure increasingly important?

With rapid development and industrialisation of coastlines, protection from marine hazards is of increasing financial and social importance. 

  • Economic dependence: Reliable connections to energy, communications, and commerce are crucial for economic development, and we're increasingly reliant on offshore infrastructure. 
  • Growing vulnerabilities: Climate change is exacerbating many marine hazards through sea-level rise, increased storminess, and ocean warming and acidification. 
  • Critical connectivity: Subsea cables carry trillions of pounds in financial transactions every day. Repair costs can reach hundreds of millions of pounds, but the knock-on effects of disconnection can be far more significant. 
  • Protecting communities: Coastal defences protect millions of people and billions in property value, but many are ageing and losing effectiveness. Understanding the hazards that can damage offshore and coastal infrastructure has never been more important.

What types of hazards threaten coastal and offshore infrastructure?

Acute hazards (sudden, high-impact events)

  • Tsunamis: Generated by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, can devastate coastal infrastructure. 
  • Storms: Direct physical forces from passing storms can threaten coastal infrastructure. 
  • Submarine landslides: Fast-moving underwater avalanches that can sever seafloor cables hundreds of kilometres offshore. 
  • Volcanic eruptions: Can generate fast-moving seafloor flows that sever cables and threaten coastal communities.

Chronic hazards (ongoing, lower-level threats)

  • Tides and currents: Regular exposure to tidal forces and ocean currents. 
  • Sediment movement: Erosion and sedimentation that can undermine buildings or overwash roads. 
  • Biofouling: Marine organisms attaching to structures. 
  • Saltwater corrosion: Chemical degradation of infrastructure

Climate-related changes

  • Sea-level rise: Accelerating rise threatens coastal defences designed for past conditions. 
  • Increased storminess: More frequent or intense storms. 
  • Ocean warming: Exacerbate many marine hazards.

What challenges do coastal defences face?

Coastal defences face significant challenges in a changing climate: 

  • Ageing infrastructure: Many coastal defences (seawalls, breakwaters, levees, and dikes) are ageing and losing effectiveness. Whilst protecting ports and housing, these defences are susceptible to damage from subsidence and erosion, as well as structural weaknesses. 
  • Design limitations: The usual design life for engineered defences is around 30 to 50 years (50 to 100 years for strategic defences like the Thames Barrier). But sea defences aren't designed to withstand accelerating sea-level rise. 
  • Multiple stressors: Defences face combined impacts from sea-level rise, increased wave action, erosion, and structural ageing.
  •  Maintenance demands: Keeping defences effective requires ongoing monitoring, maintenance, and eventual replacement or enhancement. These challenges highlight why research into coastal hazards and defence strategies is essential for long-term coastal resilience.

How do rare catastrophic events threaten subsea infrastructure?

Recent examples have revealed how rare but severe hazards pose major threats to coastal and subsea infrastructure: 

  • Hunga volcanic eruption (2022): Generated fast-moving seafloor flows that severed seafloor cables, disconnecting the island nation of Tonga entirely from global telecommunications. Our research identified the fastest ever recorded seafloor flows, which caused almost 200 km of damage to seafloor cables. 
  • West Africa cable breaks: River floods that plunged into the ocean offshore West Africa triggered powerful underwater avalanches that cut seafloor cables hundreds of kilometres offshore. 
  • Cascading impacts: Such events can be particularly severe for small islands, which are often in remote regions exposed to more extreme natural hazards (like tropical storms and earthquakes) and most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Working with international partners, our research leads to better understanding of the threats facing offshore infrastructure, helps governments understand vulnerabilities, and assists industry with more resilient designs and routes.

Using Marine Science to Reduce Risk

Marine science is central to protecting infrastructure because it gives us the tools to understand, predict, and manage hazards before they cause major damage. We can prepare through coastal mapping, monitoring, and modelling.

Tracking changes in sea level, wave conditions, and seabed stability provides early warning of emerging threats.

Numerical modelling enables improved prediction of coastal hazards including storm surge and waves.

Understanding where and when hazards are most likely to occur helps prioritise protection measures.

Scientific insights inform the design of more resilient infrastructure, from cable routes that avoid hazard zones to defences that can withstand projected future conditions.

Research into alternatives to 'hard defences,' such as managed recession and nature-based solutions where hybrid systems (reefs, marshes, or seagrass) are restored to protect hard infrastructure.

Using the best climate predictions to guide placement of critical infrastructure (like power stations, desalination plants, and offshore wind farms) to mitigate marine hazards.

What sea level monitoring do we conduct?

  • Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL)
    PSMSL is the global data bank for long-term sea level change information from tide gauges and bottom pressure recorders.
    Why it matters: Long-term sea level monitoring is crucial for understanding the risks to infrastructure from climate change, understanding slow background 'mean' sea-level rise, and the periodic threat from coastal extreme sea-levels. 
     
  • National Tidal and Sea Level Facility (NTSLF) 
    NTSLF is the centre of excellence for sea level monitoring, coastal flood forecasting, and the analysis of sea level extremes around the UK. 
    Operational forecasting: In partnership with the UK Met Office, we make operational tide and surge predictions all around the UK. 
    Infrastructure protection: These predictions provide 2 to 5 days' warning for surge events, giving time to close barriers, reinforce defences, or evacuate at-risk infrastructure.
How do our tide gauges warn against tsunamis?

How do our tide gauges warn against tsunamis?

We've established tide gauge stations in the UK and overseas for improving resilience to coastal hazards. These tide gauges are the primary means of tracking the progress of a tsunami across ocean basins and are essential for identifying these hazards and alerting.

Case study: South Sandwich Islands earthquake (2021) 
On 12 August 2021, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake occurred close to the South Sandwich Islands, along with over 50 aftershocks. In the absence of a coordinated tsunami warning system in this part of the ocean, vulnerable locations such as South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) were reliant upon alerts of seismic activity from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to warn of a possible tsunami and our tide gauge at King Edward Point, South Georgia, to detect its arrival.

Evacuation: Warnings suggested that the first tsunami wave would arrive after 1.5 hours, so people were evacuated to higher ground. 
Real-time monitoring: Our tide gauge showed that the largest amplitude waves (of around 1.2m peak-to-peak) arrived after 3 hours. 
All-clear signal: The tide gauge was essential for detecting when the danger had passed and people could return to the coast.

This demonstrates how our monitoring infrastructure provides critical real-time information for disaster response.

What is wave overtopping monitoring and why does it matter?

Wave overtopping occurs when waves crash over coastal defences, potentially flooding areas behind them and damaging infrastructure. 

WireWall technology 

We lead the development of novel technologies to monitor hazardous wave overtopping of coastal infrastructure. This innovative sensor system measures wave overtopping events in real time. 

SPLASH: AI-powered prediction 

Continuous measurement of wave overtopping events alongside national coastal monitoring networks has provided a unique dataset to train and test AI to develop a wave overtopping digital twin called SPLASH. 
Capability: SPLASH enables coastal infrastructure managers to assess uncertainty in hazardous wave overtopping forecasts 5 days in advance. 
Impact: Advance warning allows for timely protective measures, preventing damage and protecting public safety. 

This work demonstrates how combining cutting-edge sensors with AI can transform coastal hazard management.

How has our research protected subsea cables?

Our research is being used to design new resilient cable routes around the world that keep us all connected, providing billions of pounds in benefit to the UK economy.

Global hazard assessment

We led a first global assessment of hazards linked to climate change that threaten subsea telecommunications cables, including sea-level rise, coastal erosion, tropical storms, and glacial processes. This work fed into the UK's National Strategy for Maritime Security.

Understanding submarine hazards

Our research has directly monitored marine geohazards that have been poorly or completely unobserved until recently, revealing their speeds, extent, and behaviour, including sediment flows that travelled more than 1,200 km into the deep sea.

Volcanic hazards

Our research helps assess threats posed by volcanic hazards to subsea cables, coastal communities, and maritime craft, ranging from volcanic eruptions, pyroclastic density currents, fast-moving sediment flows called lahars, tsunamis, and floating rafts of pumice. This work is focused on small islands across the South Pacific and Caribbean and has involved repeat seafloor mapping, sediment sampling, remote sensing using satellites, and numerical modelling.

How does climate modelling support infrastructure protection?

How does climate modelling support infrastructure protection?

Numerical modelling developed here is instrumental in determining how climate change will affect the frequency and intensity of coastal hazards, such as storms and waves, that can impact offshore renewables and coastal infrastructure in the UK and Caribbean.

Storm surge forecasting: Marine models now provide 2 to 5 days' warning for surge events, giving time to close barriers, reinforce defences, or evacuate at-risk infrastructure. 

Long-term planning: Climate scenarios inform strategic decisions about infrastructure upgrades and new construction. 

Case study: Thames Barrier 
Ongoing research extended the Thames Barrier's usable life to 2070, delaying the need for a new multibillion-pound barrier. Thames Estuary 2100 (TE2100) is underpinned by storm surge and climate modelling used in barrier operation and future planning, including sea-level rise and climate scenarios. 

This demonstrates how scientific research directly supports critical infrastructure decisions worth billions of pounds.

What are the longest sediment flows ever measured?

Our research has revealed the nature of submarine turbidity currents through detailed monitoring, including sediment flows that travelled more than 1,200 km into the deep sea. 

These powerful underwater avalanches can: 

  • Sever multiple subsea cables near-simultaneously 
  • Travel at speeds exceeding 50 km/h 
  • Transport enormous volumes of sediment
  • Impact infrastructure hundreds of kilometres from their source 

Understanding these phenomena is crucial for: 

  • Designing cable routes that avoid high-risk areas 
  • Developing early warning systems 
  • Creating more resilient infrastructure designs 
  • Assessing risks to offshore installations 

This research provides the evidence base for industry and governments to make informed decisions about infrastructure placement and protection.

How has our research reached the public?

Our infrastructure protection research has achieved significant public engagement:

Publications

Our infrastructure protection research has produced numerous influential publications:

Fast and destructive density currents created by ocean-entering volcanic eruptions

Authors

Clare, Michael A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1448-3878; Yeo, Isobel A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9306-3446; Watson, Sally; Wysoczanski, Richard; Seabrook, Sarah; Mackay, Kevin; Hunt, James E.; Lane, Emily; Talling, Peter J.; Pope, Edward; Cronin, Shane; Ribo, Marta; Kula, Taaniela; Tappin, David; Henrys, Stuart; de Ronde, Cornel; Urlaub, Morelia; Kutterolf, Stefan; Fonua, Samuiela; Panuve, Semisi; Veverka, Dean; Rapp, Ronald; Kamalov, Valey; Williams, Michael. 2023 Fast and destructive density currents created by ocean-entering volcanic eruptions. Science, 381 (6662). 1085-1092. 10.1126/science.adi3038

Publication year

2023

Publication type

Article

Climate change hotspots and implications for the global subsea telecommunications network

Publication year

2022

Publication type

Article

Volcanic eruptions and the global subsea telecommunications network

Authors

Clare, Michael A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1448-3878; Yeo, Isobel A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9306-3446; Nash, Jacob; Hunt, James E.; Panuve, Semisi; Wilkie, Alasdair; Williams, Rebecca; Dowey, Natasha; Rowley, Peter; Barclay, Jennifer; Phillips, Jeremy; Scarlett, Jazmin; Engwell, Samantha; Henstock, Timothy J.; Seabrook, Sarah; Watson, Sally; Wysoczanski, Richard; Ribo, Marta; Cronin, Shane; Talling, Peter J.; Cassidy, Michael; Watt, Sebastian; Robertson, Richard. 2025 Volcanic eruptions and the global subsea telecommunications network. Bulletin of Volcanology, 87 (6). 10.1007/s00445-025-01832-1

Publication year

2025

Publication type

Article

Volcaniclastic density currents explain widespread and diverse seafloor impacts of the 2022 Hunga Volcano eruption

Authors

Seabrook, Sarah; Mackay, Kevin; Watson, Sally J.; Clare, Michael A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1448-3878; Hunt, James E.; Yeo, Isobel A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9306-3446; Lane, Emily M.; Clark, Malcolm R.; Wysoczanski, Richard; Rowden, Ashley A.; Kula, Taaniela; Hoffmann, Linn J.; Armstrong, Evelyn; Williams, Michael J. M.. 2023 Volcaniclastic density currents explain widespread and diverse seafloor impacts of the 2022 Hunga Volcano eruption. Nature Communications, 14 (1). 10.1038/s41467-023-43607-2

Publication year

2023

Publication type

Article

The 2019 pumice raft forming eruption of Volcano-F (Volcano 0403–091) and implications for hazards posed by submerged calderas

Authors

Yeo, Isobel A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9306-3446; McIntosh, Iona M.; Bryan, Scott E.; Tani, Kenichiro; Dunbabin, Matthew; Dobson, Katherine J.; Mitchell, Samuel J.; Collins, Patrick C.; Clare, Michael A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1448-3878; Cathey, Henrietta; Duwai, Isikeli; Brandl, Philipp A.; Stone, Karen; Manu, Mele S.. 2024 The 2019 pumice raft forming eruption of Volcano-F (Volcano 0403–091) and implications for hazards posed by submerged calderas. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 108160. 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2024.108160

Publication year

2024

Publication type

Article

Detailed monitoring reveals the nature of submarine turbidity currents

Authors

Talling, Peter J.; Cartigny, Matthieu J. B.; Pope, Ed; Baker, Megan; Clare, Michael A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1448-3878; Heijnen, Maarten; Hage, Sophie; Parsons, Dan R.; Simmons, Steve M.; Paull, Charlie K.; Gwiazda, Roberto; Lintern, Gwyn; Hughes Clarke, John E.; Xu, Jingping; Silva Jacinto, Ricardo; Maier, Katherine L.. 2023 Detailed monitoring reveals the nature of submarine turbidity currents. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. 10.1038/s43017-023-00458-1

Publication year

2023

Publication type

Article

Longest sediment flows yet measured show how major rivers connect efficiently to deep sea

Authors

Talling, Peter J.; Baker, Megan L.; Pope, Ed L.; Ruffell, Sean C.; Jacinto, Ricardo Silva; Heijnen, Maarten S.; Hage, Sophie; Simmons, Stephen M.; Hasenhündl, Martin; Heerema, Catharina J.; McGhee, Claire; Apprioual, Ronan; Ferrant, Anthony; Cartigny, Matthieu J. B.; Parsons, Daniel R.; Clare, Michael A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1448-3878; Tshimanga, Raphael M.; Trigg, Mark A.; Cula, Costa A.; Faria, Rui; Gaillot, Arnaud; Bola, Gode; Wallance, Dec; Griffiths, Allan; Nunny, Robert; Urlaub, Morelia; Peirce, Christine; Burnett, Richard; Neasham, Jeffrey; Hilton, Robert J.. 2022 Longest sediment flows yet measured show how major rivers connect efficiently to deep sea. Nature Communications, 13 (1). 10.1038/s41467-022-31689-3

Publication year

2022

Publication type

Article

Climate change impacts on storms and waves relevant to the UK and Ireland

Authors

Bricheno, L.M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4751-9366; Woolf, D.; Valiente, N.G.; Makrygianni, N.; Chowdhury, P.; Timmermans, B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2220-8489. 2025 Climate change impacts on storms and waves relevant to the UK and Ireland. MCCIP Science Review 2025. 10.14465/2025.reu09.str

Publication year

2025

Publication type

Article

Quantifying processes contributing to coastal hazards to inform coastal climate resilience assessments, demonstrated for the Caribbean Sea

Publication year

2020

Publication type

Article

WireWall – a new approach to measuring coastal wave hazard

Authors

Brown, Jennifer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3894-4651; Yelland, Margaret ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0936-4957; Pascal, Robin; Pullen, T.; Cardwell, Christopher ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1305-4174; Jones, David; Pinnell, Richard ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2102-2028; Silva, E.; Balfour, Christopher; Hargreaves, Geoff ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4361-6134; Martin, Barry; Bell, Paul ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4673-4822; Prime, Thomas; Burgess, Jill; Eastwood, Lisa; Martin, A.; Gold, I.; Bird, Cai; Thompson, C.; Farrington, B.. 2020 WireWall – a new approach to measuring coastal wave hazard. Southampton, National Oceanography Centre, 115pp. (National Oceanography Centre Research and Consultancy Report, 66)

Publication year

2020

Publication type

Monograph

A system for in-situ, wave-by-wave measurements of the speed and volume of coastal overtopping

Authors

Yelland, Margaret J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0936-4957; Brown, Jennifer M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3894-4651; Cardwell, Christopher L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1305-4174; Jones, David S.; Pascal, Robin W.; Pinnell, Richard ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2102-2028; Pullen, Tim; Silva, Eunice. 2023 A system for in-situ, wave-by-wave measurements of the speed and volume of coastal overtopping. Communications Engineering, 2 (1). 10.1038/s44172-023-00058-3

Publication year

2023

Publication type

Article

Investigating appropriate artificial intelligence approaches to reliably predict coastal wave overtopping and identify process contributions

Authors

McGlade, Michael; Valiente, Nieves G.; Brown, Jennifer ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3894-4651; Stokes, Christopher; Poate, Timothy. 2025 Investigating appropriate artificial intelligence approaches to reliably predict coastal wave overtopping and identify process contributions. Ocean Modelling, 194, 102510. 1, pp. 10.1016/j.ocemod.2025.102510

Publication year

2025

Publication type

Article

Building resilience to coastal hazards using tide gauges

Authors

Hibbert, Angela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2529-0190. 2021 Building resilience to coastal hazards using tide gauges [in special issue: Ocean Decade for Sustainable Development] Environmental Scientist. 58-65.

Publication year

2021

Publication type

Article

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