Ad van der Spek

Coastal morphology

+31(0)88335 7156

Ad.vanderSpek@deltares.nl

Dr. Ad van der Spek is a senior marine geologist specialising in long-term coastal evolution and morphodynamics. He wrote a PhD thesis on large-scale evolution of Holocene tidal basins in The Netherlands. He has been working with Deltares and the Geological Survey of The Netherlands for over 25 years and participated in both national and international research projects. The latter include the Dutch-Indonesian Snellius II marine science expedition, several EU-funded projects on the impact of climate change on coastal areas, and the Coastplan project, which addressed the relevance of geoscience for Integrated Coastal Zone Management in East and Southeast Asia. The latter project included the organisation of workshops and seminars. Ad van der Spek was the course leader for an Offshore Mapping Course that was organised in May 2002 in The Netherlands for the Research Centre for Coastal Geology, China Geological Survey. He is Technical Adviser to the Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, P.R. China. He represents Deltares in the Netherlands Centre for Coastal Research NCK and works as Associate Professor at the Coastal Engineering Section of Delft University of Technology (Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences;) and at the Coast Engineering and Port Development Group at UNESCO-IHE. He received the yearly publication award of TNO-National Geological Survey in 2000 and 2007. Since 2006, he is involved in research for support of the national coastal nourishment policy, as programme manager and advisor and as scientist. His research interests include long-term coastal morphodynamics, reconstruction of coastal evolution, dynamics of beach barriers and tidal basins, long-term sediment budgets, sea-bed dynamics, biogeomorphology and large-scale sedimentary coastal maintenance strategies.

Working experience

2008-present	Deltares	manager of strategic and applied coastal research programmes; senior coastal scientist; specialist long-term coastal morphodynamics
2004-2008	TNO Built Environment and Subsurface - National Geological Survey	senior coastal scientist;
1997-2004	TNO Netherlands Institute of Applied Geoscience - National Geological Survey	senior coastal scientist; head of Geo-Marine Mapping and Coastal Research Department
1994-1997	Geological Survey of The Netherlands	coastal geologist
1992-1993	Utrecht University, Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht	research associate
1991	Rijkswaterstaat - Tidal Waters Division	coastal geomorphologist
1988-1991	Rijkswaterstaat - Tidal Waters Division	PhD researcher
1986-1988	Rijkswaterstaat - Tidal Waters Division	coastal geomorphologist

Deltares research programme Coastal, Estuarine and River Morphodynamics

The Netherlands (predominantly), 2009 - present

Main project features: research into the morphodynamics of (natural) sedimentary systems; position held: programme manager
Activities performed: programme design, programme management, supervision of project leaders, research
Research programme Maintenance and Management of the Dutch Coast (‘Kustlijnzorg’)

The Netherlands, 2007 - present

Client: Rijkswaterstaat (Water Management Authority of The Netherlands)
Main project features: research for and support of national coastline maintenance programme
Positions held: programme manager, programme advisor, project leader
Activities performed: programme design, supervision, client relations
Project A Dutch Perspective on Coastal Louisiana Flood Risk Reduction and Landscape Stabilization

The Netherlands, 2006 - 2007

Client: US Army Corps of Engineers
Main project features: see title
Position held: coastal geology expert
Activities performed: review of geology and long-term morphodynamic evolution of Mississippi delta
Project Offshore Mapping Course for the Research Centre for Coastal Geology

The Netherlands, P.R. China, 2002

Client: China Geological Survey
Main project features: 3-week course on methodology of mapping sea bed and coast, lectures and hands-on exercises
Positions held: course leader, teacher
Activities performed: fund raising, course design, lecturing, follow-up mission, reporting
Delft Cluster Coastal Research Programme

The Netherlands, 2000 - 2003

Main project features: studies into interaction of tidal basins and coast on different time scales
Position held: member of management team
Activities performed: research, programme management
Programme Mapping of sea bed geology of the Dutch continental shelf and coastal zone

The Netherlands, 2000 - 2004

Client: TNO Netherlands Institute of Applied Geoscience, Rijkswaterstaat-North Sea Directorate
Main project features: collection, interpretation, storage and management of data on the sea bed
Position held: programme manager
Activities: design and planning of work flow, programme management
Project COASTPLAN case study Geology and natural hazards of Lae City and surroundings, Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea, 1997-1999

Client: Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Projects in East and Southeast Asia CCOP (Bangkok, Thailand)
Main project features: inventory of natural (coastal) hazards, advise for management of area
Positions held: project leader, coastal expert; activities performed: collection and review of data, reporting, project management
Project COASTPLAN-Geoscience Data for Integrated Coastal Zone Management

The Netherlands, Thailand, Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, 1996 - 2000

Client: Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Projects in East and Southeast Asia CCOP (Bangkok, Thailand)
Main project features: dissemination of knowledge, experience and best-practices on collection, interpretation and storage of geoscience data as basis for Integrated Coastal Zone Management in Asia
Positions held: technical project leader
Activities performed: technical support of project manager in Bangkok, organisation of seminars, editing reports and publications
Project Climate Change and Coastal Evolution in Europe (EV5V-CT94-0445)

The Netherlands, 1994-1996

Client: European Commission
Main project features: simulation of paleo-tides in the Schelde estuary
Position held: researcher
Activities performed: reconstructing landscape evolution, numerical modelling, reporting
project Coastal Genesis (‘Kustgenese’)

The Netherlands

Client: Rijkswaterstaat-National Centre for Coastal and Marine Management RIKZ
Main project features: reconstruction, description and quantification of the Holocene evolution of the Dutch coast
Position held: researcher
Activities performed: quantifying Holocene evolution, reporting

Options for Dynamic Coastal Management - A guide for managers

2013
M Löffler, AJF van der Spek & C van Gelder-Maas. / Report 1207724-000, Deltares, Delft, 35 pp.
Morphodynamic development and sediment budget of the Dutch Wadden Sea over the last century

2012
EPL Elias, AJF van der Spek, ZB Wang & J de Ronde. / Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, 91 (3): 293-310.
Recent coastal-dune development: effects of sand nourishments

2011
MAJ Bakker, S van Heteren, LM Vonhögen, AJF van der Spek & L van der Valk. / Journal of Coastal Research, 28(3): 587-601.
Extracting storm-surge data from coastal dunes for improved assessment of flood risk

2011
AC Cunningham, MAJ Bakker, S van Heteren, B van der Valk, AJF van der Spek, DR Schaart & J Wallinga. / Geology, 39: 1063-1066.
Evidence and implications of Middle- to Late Holocene shoreface steepening offshore the Western Netherlands

2011
S van Heteren, A van der Spek & B van der Valk. / In: P Wang, JD Rosati & TM Roberts (eds.), Proceedings Coastal Sediments’11, May, 2-6, 2011, Miami, FL, p. 188-201. World Scientific Publ.
Development of a mid-Holocene estuarine basin, Rhine-Meuse mouth area, offshore the Netherlands

2010
MP Hijma, AJF van der Spek & S van Heteren. / Marine Geology, 271: 198-211. 2009 / From river valley to estuary: the evolution of the Rhine mouth in the early to middle Holocene (western Netherlands, Rhine-Meuse delta). / MP Hijma, KM Cohen, G Hoffmann, AJF van der Spek & E Stouthamer. / Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, 88 (1): 13-53.
Regional sediment deficits in the Dutch lowlands: implications for long-term land-use options.

2007
MJ van der Meulen, AJF van der Spek, G de Lange, SHLL Gruijters, SF van Gessel, BL Nguyen, D Maljers, J Schokker, JPM Mulder & RAA van der Krogt. / Journal of Soils and Sediments, 7 (1): 9-16.
From transgression to regression; coastal evolution near The Hague, The Netherlands, around 5000 BP.

2007
AJF van der Spek, J Cleveringa & S van Heteren. / In: NC Kraus & J Dean Rosati (eds.), Coastal Sediments ’07, Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Coastal Engineering and Science of Coastal Sediment Processes, May 13-17, 2007, New Orleans, Louisiana, p. 1129-1141.
From transgression to regression; coastal evolution near The Hague, The Netherlands, around 5000 BP.

2007
AJF van der Spek, J Cleveringa & S van Heteren. / In: NC Kraus & J Dean Rosati (eds.), Coastal Sediments ’07, Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Coastal Engineering and Science of Coastal Sediment Processes, May 13-17, 2007, New Orleans, Louisiana, p. 1129-1141.
Island-terminus evolution related to changing ebb-tidal-delta configuration: Texel, The Netherlands

2006
Island-terminus evolution related to changing ebb-tidal-delta configuration: Texel, The Netherlands
Long-term morphodynamic evolution of Texel Inlet and its ebb-tidal delta (The Netherlands).

2006
EPL Elias & AJF van der Spek. / Marine Geology, 225: 5-21.
Ebb and flood channel systems in the Netherlands tidal waters.

2005
J van Veen, AJF van der Spek, MJF Stive & T Zitman. / Journal of Coastal Research, 21 (6): 1107-1120.
Development and preservation of a mid-Holocene tidal channel network offshore the western Netherlands.

2005
R Rieu, S van Heteren, AJF van der Spek & PL de Boer. / Journal of Sedimentary Research, 75 (3): 413-423.
English translation of the original Dutch text with annotations of the paper Ebb and Flood Channel Systems in the Netherlands Tidal Waters by Johan van Veen (Journal of the Royal Dutch Geographical Society, 67 (1950), p. 303-325).

2002
A van der Spek, M Stive & T Zitman (eds.). / Delft University Press, Delft, 31 pp. / [pdf: www.vssd.nl/hlf/f015.htm]
The Holocene evolution of the barrier and the back-barrier basins of Belgium and the Netherlands as a function of late Weichselian morphology, relative sea-level rise and sediment supply.

2000
DJ Beets & AJF van der Spek. / Geologie en Mijnbouw / Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, 79 (1): 3-16.
Tidal asymmetry and long-term evolution of Holocene tidal basins in The Netherlands: simulation of palaeo-tides in the Schelde estuary

1997
AJF van der Spek. / Marine Geology, 141: 71-90.
Hydraulic processes affecting the morphology and evolution of the Westerschelde estuary

1996
JH van den Berg, CJL Jeuken & AJF van der Spek. / In: KF Nordstrom & CT Roman (eds.), Estuarine Shores; Evolution, Environment and Human Alterations, p. 157-184. John Wiley, Chichester.
Holocene depositional sequences in the Dutch Wadden Sea south of the island of Ameland.

1996
AJF van der Spek. / Mededelingen Rijks Geologische Dienst, 57: 41-68.
Reconstruction of tidal inlet and channel dimensions in the Frisian Middelzee, a former tidal basin in the Dutch Wadden Sea

1995
AJF van der Spek. / In: BW Flemming & A Bartholomä (eds.), Tidal Signatures in Modern and Ancient Sediments. Special Publications International Association of Sedimentologists, 24: 239-258.
Large-scale evolution of Holocene tidal basins in the Netherlands

1994
AJF van der Spek. / PhD dissertation, Utrecht University, 191 pp.
Mid-Holocene evolution of a tidal basin in the western Netherlands: a model for future changes in the northern Netherlands under conditions of accelerated sea-level rise?

1992
AJF van der Spek & DJ Beets. / Sedimentary Geology, 80: 185-197.

2011- present	member and since 2013 chairman	Steering Committee of the Netherlands Centre for Luminesence Dating NCL
2007- present	member	the Coast working group of the Netherlands Expertise Platform for Flood Protection ENW
2003- present	member and since 2011 chairman	Programme Committee of the Netherlands Centre for Coastal Research NCK
2002- present	Technical Advisor	Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, China Geological Survey
1996- 2000	secretary	Sedimentology working group of the Royal Geological and Mining Society of The Netherlands KNGMG
1995- present	associate scientist	Netherlands Centre for Coastal Research NCK at the Coastal Engineering section, Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, on secondment of, successively, Geological Survey of The Netherlands, TNO-NITG and Deltares

Ad van der Spek

Working experience

Deltares research programme Coastal, Estuarine and River Morphodynamics

Research programme Maintenance and Management of the Dutch Coast (‘Kustlijnzorg’)

Project A Dutch Perspective on Coastal Louisiana Flood Risk Reduction and Landscape Stabilization

Project Offshore Mapping Course for the Research Centre for Coastal Geology

Delft Cluster Coastal Research Programme

Programme Mapping of sea bed geology of the Dutch continental shelf and coastal zone

Project COASTPLAN case study Geology and natural hazards of Lae City and surroundings, Papua New Guinea

Project COASTPLAN-Geoscience Data for Integrated Coastal Zone Management

Project Climate Change and Coastal Evolution in Europe (EV5V-CT94-0445)

project Coastal Genesis (‘Kustgenese’)

Options for Dynamic Coastal Management - A guide for managers

Morphodynamic development and sediment budget of the Dutch Wadden Sea over the last century

Recent coastal-dune development: effects of sand nourishments

Extracting storm-surge data from coastal dunes for improved assessment of flood risk

Evidence and implications of Middle- to Late Holocene shoreface steepening offshore the Western Netherlands

Development of a mid-Holocene estuarine basin, Rhine-Meuse mouth area, offshore the Netherlands

Regional sediment deficits in the Dutch lowlands: implications for long-term land-use options.

From transgression to regression; coastal evolution near The Hague, The Netherlands, around 5000 BP.

From transgression to regression; coastal evolution near The Hague, The Netherlands, around 5000 BP.

Island-terminus evolution related to changing ebb-tidal-delta configuration: Texel, The Netherlands

Long-term morphodynamic evolution of Texel Inlet and its ebb-tidal delta (The Netherlands).

Ebb and flood channel systems in the Netherlands tidal waters.

Development and preservation of a mid-Holocene tidal channel network offshore the western Netherlands.

English translation of the original Dutch text with annotations of the paper Ebb and Flood Channel Systems in the Netherlands Tidal Waters by Johan van Veen (Journal of the Royal Dutch Geographical Society, 67 (1950), p. 303-325).

The Holocene evolution of the barrier and the back-barrier basins of Belgium and the Netherlands as a function of late Weichselian morphology, relative sea-level rise and sediment supply.

Tidal asymmetry and long-term evolution of Holocene tidal basins in The Netherlands: simulation of palaeo-tides in the Schelde estuary

Hydraulic processes affecting the morphology and evolution of the Westerschelde estuary

Holocene depositional sequences in the Dutch Wadden Sea south of the island of Ameland.

Reconstruction of tidal inlet and channel dimensions in the Frisian Middelzee, a former tidal basin in the Dutch Wadden Sea

Large-scale evolution of Holocene tidal basins in the Netherlands

Mid-Holocene evolution of a tidal basin in the western Netherlands: a model for future changes in the northern Netherlands under conditions of accelerated sea-level rise?

Activities