Case Studies/stats Flashcards
Ria eg
Kingsbridge Estuary, Devon
Fjord example
Songefjord, Norway
- 205km long
- 1.3km deep
Dalmation coastline eg
Croatia
- 1240 islands running parallel to shoreline
Raised beach eg
Isle of Arran, Scotland
- raised beach 5m above sea level
Where are abandonnned cliffs in UK
East coast of Scotland rising 7mm/yr
What happened to Bay of Naples in 1980s
Fell by 5m due to tectonic activity
Concordant coastline eg
Jurassic coast (Portland stone then Wealden clay)
Discordant coast
South Gower coastline
What is the fetch for Holderness
800 km (from Scandinavia)
What is the fetch for cornwall
Ranges from 9000km (S.America) to 50km I(France)
Arch eg & how many visitors
Durdle Door 200k visitors /yr
CS: Gower Coastline
- Up to 9000km fetch (S.America)
- AONB
- Landward dip at St.Govan’s Head therefore increased erosion
- Avg 15kn windspeed (v high) accelerates erosion
- Oxwich Bay
Stack/stump eg
Old Harry Rocks (Eastern end of Jurassic coast)
Geo eg
Huntsman’s Leap, Wales
Blowhole eg
Boscastle blowhole (Devil’s Bellows)
Cuspate foreland eg
Dungeness
Spit eg
Hurst Spit (Barton-on-Sea)
Spurn Point (Holderness), growing 10cm/yr hobut slowed by groynes at Mappleton & Hornsea
Sandbanks (Bournemouth, where Harry Redknapp has a house there)
Bar eg
Slapto Sands
Tombolo eg
St Ninians Isle (Shetland Isle)
CS: San Fransisco Bay
North bay:
Moderate river river & moderate tide causes partially mixed estuary
South bay:
In winter, little glacial melt means well mixed estuary
In summer, more glacial melt means stronger river & partially mixed estuary
Salt evaporating ponds have caused inverse estuary to an extent
CS: Yellow Sea tidal flat
- Unique environment
- Supports rare species eg 3m migratory birds
- Many rely on flora/fauna to make a living
- 2% loss in area /yr
- Threats: algal blooms due to sea temp rise, pollution, invasive species(pacific oyster), development causing 90% loss in Yellow River sediment in last century
Coastal zone mangrove plant (pioneer plant)
Avicennia or Sonneratia adapted to salinity + pneumatophores
Middle zone mangrove plant
Rhizophora adapted with prop roots
Inland zone mangrove plants
Bruguiera trees, less tolerant to salinity & have knee like roots
Threats to mangroves
- Coastal development: 50% of mangroves lost in last 50 years due to it
- Climate change: Sea rise, more storms & change in ppt could decline them by up to 45%
- Pollution
- Overfishing & unsustainable aquaculture
- Deforestation: 100,000ha of mangrove lost in last 20 years Indonesia
CS: Saltfleetby Nature Reserve
- Located just above The Wash
- National Nature Reserve NNR
- Wide variety of flora/fauna eg Sparrowhawk
- No hard engineering as marsh & dunes absorb energy
- Accretion > erosion however estimated to change due to hold the line along parts of Holderness
CS: Barton-on-Sea
- Permeable sandstone above Barton caly causing slumping
- Relatively low rainfall reduces slumping
- 2m/yr erosion peak
- Low fetch of 50km
- Impacts: golf course redesigned, caravan parks had move some, roads/paths shut or moved
- Hurst Spit
CS: Jurassic Coast
- Fetch usually low (50km) but can be up to 5000km
- Limestone hard but susceptible to solution
- Largely concordant coastline - Lulworth cove
- UNESCO world heritage site
- Attracts 5m /yr
CS: Holderness coastline
- Avg 2m/yr erosion, fastest in Europe
- Low fetch of 800km (Scandinavia)
- Frequent heavy rain, saturation & slumping
- Southerly dip & well jointed yet still errodes fast
Impacts: - Value of lannd lost = £261m in last 50 years
- Hornsea Leisure Park losing caravan space
- 100 chalets at Golden Sands Holiday Park lost
Management: - Mappleton: £2m on revetment & rock groynes (granite from Norway)
- Withersea: curved sea wall to redirect energy
- Varying policies: managed retreat, unmanaged, hold the line
- Spurn Head: Flexible road surface can be moved
- Increased erosion downshore e.g. Saltfleetby NNR
