Research on storm deposits on coastlines allows for the reconstruction of the frequency and strength of past weather events. Earth-Science Reviews has just published a review article summarising over a decade of geological research on storms in the Baltic Sea over the last few thousand years. The publication was co-authored by dr Damian Moskalewicz from the Faculty of Oceanography and Geography at the University of Gdańsk, who has been conducting research on paleostorms, coastline changes and storm relief on the southern Baltic coast for many years.
The article was written as part of a project carried out at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań by dr Karolina Leszczyńska, prof. Karl Stattegger and prof. Witold Szczuciński, and co-authored by dr Damian Moskalewicz from the Department of Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology, Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Gdańsk. His earlier work strongly influenced the creation of the review publication and significantly supported the implementation of Prof. Karl Stattegger's grant. In addition to the authors mentioned above, the research team working on the publication included representatives of other scientific institutions from Poland (A. Giza, P. Terefenko and T. Wolski from the University of Szczecin, P. Oliński from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, G. Uścinowicz from the State Geological Institute and Sz. Uścinowicz from IBW-PAS), as well as other countries located on the Baltic coast: Sweden (H. Alexanderson, A. Rutgersson), Denmark (L.B. Clemmensen), Germany (S. Lorenz, D. Paprotny) and Estonia (A. Rosentau).
What does this research involve?
During severe storms, cliffs are eroded, dune embankments are destroyed and beaches are transformed. Characteristic landforms, such as spill cones, are also created. Under favourable conditions, the sediments that form them can survive in geological structures for thousands of years.
‘Research on storm deposits on the coast allows us to reconstruct the frequency and strength of past weather events. To this end, geologists use sedimentological, geophysical, geochemical and remote sensing methods, historical archives and numerical modelling results,’ says dr Damian Moskalewicz. ‘The aim of the research is to better understand how often extreme storms occurred in the past, how strong their effects were and how they may change in the future due to climate change. This knowledge is essential for both science and effective coastal protection planning. The publication in Earth-Science Reviews is an important contribution to the development of research on paleostorms and the dynamics of the Baltic Sea coast.’
The research conducted by dr Damian Moskalewicz focuses, among other things, on the reconstruction of past storms in the Gdańsk Bay area based on sediment records in coastal lowlands and the analysis of the impact of storms on the contemporary coastal relief. To this end, he uses, among other things, grain size analysis, heavy mineral composition studies and multispectral remote sensing analyses. Currently, Dr Damian Moskalewicz is leading the NSC SONATA 2021/43/D/ST10/00185 research project ‘Improvement of natural hazard management strategies in the coastal zone by linking storm forms and deposits with instrumental measurements - STORMLINK’ and is a contractor in several other grants, conducting research on minerals and sedimentary rocks from the Baltic Sea region and northern Poland.
The result of the cooperation between dr Damian Moskalewicz and dr Karolina Leszczyńska is a Polish-language publication entitled ‘Written in sand - historical sources and Earth science methods as tools in interdisciplinary research on the history of storms on the southern Baltic coast’, published in the volume ‘Environmental research in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences’ edited by Rafał Kleśta-Nawrocki, Piotr Oliński and Wojciech Piasek (UMK Scientific Publishing House, 2024).
Bibliographic note and link to the publication: Leszczyńska, K., Alexanderson, H., Clemmensen, L.B., Giza, A., Lorenz, S., Moskalewicz, D., Oliński, P., Paprotny, D., Rosentau, A., Rutgersson, A., Stattegger, K., Szczuciński, W., Terefenko, P., Uścinowicz, G., Uścinowicz, S., Wolski, T., 2025. A review of storms and marine coastal flooding in the Baltic Sea - Insights from instrumental, historical and sedimentary record. Earth-Science Reviews 266, 105137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2025.105137