What environmental problem might have been encountered by 1st Army soldiers landing at Utah Beach?

Land mines and anti tank defences - these were on all the beaches of course - artillery guns from much further inland who were in range of the beach.

There were fewer bunkers than further along the coast - and many had been attacked by aerial bombing before hand. The main line of defence by the Germans was the potnetial to flood the coastal plains inland, which is probably what the questioner is getting at.

The terrain at Utah Beach starts at the water line with a very shallow sandy beach. Coupled with the large tides in this area, the water line at Utah Beach moves by a kilometer or more. Then there are grass-stabilized dunes varying around 10 to 15 meters in height (hardly cliffs). Immediately behind this largely linear ridge-shaped dune were the low-lying areas flooded by the Germans .

As luck would have it the main force went a bit off course and came to the southern end of the landing site - and were able to bypass the flooded areas. Teddy Rooseveldt famously saying we'll start the war from here, when told they were in the wrong place.What environmental problem might have been encountered by 1st Army soldiers landing at Utah Beach?bad seas and stteep hills where the germans were positioned