CASE STUDY- Holderness coast

Question 1

give an example of a place which has adopted the hold the line strategy

Answer 1

Mappleton, withernsea, Easington, hornsea and bridlington

Question 2

give an example of a place which has adopted the do nothing strategy

Answer 2

Barmston, spurn head, great cowden farm

Question 3

what is the erosion rate of the holderness coast

Answer 3

2m per year/2 million tonnes of material lost per year- fastest in Europe

Question 4

what happened to barmston in 1967?

Answer 4

6 meters lost in 2 days

Question 5

how many villages have been lost to the sea over the last 1000 years?

Answer 5

29

Question 6

how many years earlier than expected did great cowden farm fall into the sea due to faster erosion rates because of protection in mappleton?

Answer 6

45 years

Question 7

why is Easington so important to protect?

Answer 7

25% of the UKs gas comes ashore from the north sea here

Question 8

why is spurn spit important?

Answer 8

• 6km of heritage coastline making it a major attraction
• Important wildlife habitat with over 200 species of birds
• jobs: humber pilot station where officers guide ships through the busy humber estuary

Question 9

why is the holderness coast important?

Answer 9

• Farming: Fertile boulder clay ideal for dairy farming
• Industry: Easington gas terminal- 25% of uk supply and provides jobs
• Tourism: several seaside resorts eg. bridlington and hornsea, £450m generated each year, 8000 full time jobs, 8.5m day trips per year

Question 10

how many meters have been lost in the last 35 years?

Answer 10

60 meters

Question 11

how much has been lost since roman times?

Answer 11

3-4km

Question 12

what have been the impacts of erosion on families?

Answer 12

• stress and economic loss
• houses, loss of value, not able to insure, forced to move
• Barmston caravan park- 10+pitches lost per year
• threat of job loss eg. humber pilot station

Question 13

What have been the impacts on farming and land at great cowden farm?

Answer 13

• Sue earles farm at great cowden- cattle falling over the cliff, £250,000 farmhouse with £3500 demolition cost
• Erosion up from 3 ft per yr to 30ft per year due to mappletons defenses

Question 14

how far is easington gas terminal from the sea?

Answer 14

12 meters

Question 15

what strategy have they deployed at easington?

Answer 15

hard engineering- 1km of rock revetment along cliff front

Question 16

how much was spent on Mappleton’s defenses in 1991 and what was it spent on?

Answer 16

£2 million- 2 rock groynes, 500m long rock revetment, cliff re profiling (prevents slumping)

Question 17

why have the beaches of the holderness coast been a cause of the coastal erosion?

Answer 17

Narrow beaches: -no beaches to reduce the erosive power of the waves
-the chalk headland of Flamborough head prevents the transport of materials from the north, thus little beach material is transported southwards to the beaches of holderness

Question 18

why has the lithology been a cause of the coastal erosion on the holderness coast?

Answer 18

• Cliffs are made out of boulder clay which is easily eroded by corrasion and hydraulic action
• boulder clay is also prone to rotational slump and landslides when the rock becomes saturated

Question 19

why have the powerful waves been a cause of the coastal erosion on the holderness coast

Answer 19

-powerful DESTRUCTIVE waves attack the coast as they have a long fetch allowing them to build up energy as they are blown by the wind

Question 20

why has rising sea levels become a cause of erosion on the holderness coast?

Answer 20

-increasing volume of water in the oceans, greater power to erode the coastline

Question 21

how have humans caused greater erosion on the coastline

Answer 21

1) Defenses such as groynes at hornsea, starve beaches down the coast of material resulting in narrower beaches which dont protect the cliffs as much
2) Offshore dredging reduces the amount of sediment available to build up beaches
3) Development has increase the loading on the land and surface runoff making cliffs more unstable and more likely to experience rotational slumping

Question 22

name a few social impacts of the coastal erosion on holderness coast

Answer 22

• Property prices along the coast have fallen sharply
• 29 villages have been lost since roman times
• difficulty to get a mortgage or insurance

Question 23

name a few economic impacts of the coastal erosion along the holderness coastline

Answer 23

• Visitor numbers have dropped by 30% between 1996-2006 in bridlington
• Many settlements have had to install expensive hard engineering schemes eg. 2m spent at mappleton
• Easington gas terminal
• seaside caravan park at Ulrome is losing 10+ pitches per year

Question 24

what road is the defences at mappleton defending?

Answer 24

B1242

Question 25

what are the environmental impacts of the coastal erosion along the holderness coastline

Answer 25

• 200 species of bird are threatened by the erosion of the spurn spit which protects their homeland in the salt marshes behind it
• Spurn spit is 6km of heritiage coastline