Revieivs — Coast Erosion and Afforestation. 375 



III. — Royal Commission on Coast Erosion and Afforestation. 



Third (and Final) Report of the Royal Commission appointed to 

 inquire into and report upon certain questions affecting Coast 

 Erosion, the Reclamation of Tidal Lands, and Afforestation 

 in the United Kingdom. 1911. Price 3s. 



IK the Geological Magazine for January, 1908 (p. 34), we drew 

 attention to the First Report, and accompanying Minutes of 

 Evidence, of this Royal Commission. The terms of reference of the 

 Commission were afterwards extended to take in Afforestation, and 

 the Second Report, dealing with that subject, was published in 1909. 

 It includes a short account of the nature and extent of land suitable 

 for sylviculture, and deals more particularly with methods of culture, 

 labour, and administration; the Commission consider "that there are 

 roughly 9,000,000 acres of land in the United Kingdom which may 

 with advantage to the State be afforested". 



The Third Report gives a summary of the evidence to which we 

 referred in our former article, together with the principal conclusions 

 and recommendations. The changes in the relative level of land and 

 sea are first dealt with, and to the question "whether movements of 

 a similar nature are likely to recur, and if so, when ", it is remarked 

 that no answer can be given. Mention, however, is made of slight 

 submergences possibly in progress on the Northumberland coast, in 

 the north of Scotland, and on the south and west of Ireland. The 

 amount of erosion and accretion along the coasts is considered. It is 

 admitted that erosion takes place below sea-level, and that " fine 

 gravel had been found in suspension in the English Channel at 

 4 fathoms above the sea-bed in a depth of 37 fathoms " ; but to what 

 depth the movement of detritus on the sea-floor is effective in eroding 

 is a question " on which further investigation is needed". The 

 accumulation of shingle at Dungeness (the largest in the kingdom) 

 is attributed to the supply of pebbles from the Sussex coast to the 

 westward, "the shingle having travelled along the shore and down 

 to the level where the waves influence the travel in deep water." 



There is much valuable information about the derivation and dis- 

 tribution of beach deposits, and it is remarked "that while the beach 

 material should not be removed from any part of the coast where it 

 acts as a protective agency, erosion must continue at some places in 

 order that a supply of fresh material may be furnished to replace that 

 which is ultimately worn away ". 



Descriptions are given of the reclamation of alluvial flats and 

 salt-marshes, of the protection afforded by Blown Sands, and of the 

 aid given by various plants in the accretion of mud-flats and in the 

 checking of wind-drifted material. There is an excellent description 

 of the main geological features of the British coast-lines, and 

 this is followed by an account of the erosion and accretion that is 

 taking place. The general results are that while " on the one hand 

 considerable areas of agricultural land are lost, sea-coast towns are 

 injured, and harbours tend to silt up, on the other, large areas of 

 valuable agricultural land are gained, and these areas on the average 

 are more valuable than those which are lost". The gain has been 



