Coast Management Flashcards
What is beach profiling ( facts + positives and negatives)
Beach profiling is a soft engineering defence. Following winter storms the beach material at the base of of the beach gets moved back up the beach as protection.
Negatives : £200,000 per year, can seem/ look artificial to visitors
Positives: no new material needs to be found or added, the beach can absorb more of the waves energy so protects ares behind the beach
What is dune regeneration
Dune regeneration is a soft engineering defence to stop coastal erosion. Its an artificial creation of regeneration of sand dunes at the back of the beach. It can be achieved by allowing sand to build up against fences.
Negatives: can take several years for dunes to be established so additional defences are needed in the meantime
Positives: cheap, improves coastal ecosystem , provides walkways
What is gabions
,managed realignment are of form of hard engineering to reduce coastal erosion. Its large steel or stainless steel mesh cages that are filled with rocks. It runs down the beach at a right angle to coastline
Negatives: got a life span of 20 years because steel will rust, only works on sandy beaches as shingle would break them down
Positives: stainless steel lasts long, cheap, rocks absorb the energy from the wave so they absorb less damage
What are sea walls
Sea walls are a form of hard engineering used as a coastal defence. Its a concrete wall built to stop waves from hitting the coastline and eroding it
Negatives: expensive, seen as ugly, if poorly maintained, collapse can occur leading to huge amounts of damage
Positives: gives tourists a nice place to walk
What is beach nourishment
A form of soft engineering used as a coastal defence. Sand is added to beach to replace washed away sand, done in spring so tourists can enjoy beach in summer, designed to absorb energy of the wave and prevent it reaching the back of the beach
Negatives: needs to be replaced regularly, during process access is prevented
Positives: natural appearance, little environmental impact
What is rock armour
A form of hard engineering used as a coastal defence. large boulders are piled up along the shoreline to form a type of sea wall. Rocks are dumped on top of each other leaving gaps in between them that allow water through. This disperses the energy of waves and reduces erosional power
Negatives : boulders must be large strong and resistant to erosion
Positives: quick and cheap to build
What is managed realignment
A form of hard engineering used as a coastal defence. It creates a manmade new position for coastline involving moving coastal boundary inland
Negatives : lost habitats, relies on purchase of land
Positives: sustainable, long term
What are groynes
A form of hard engineering used as a coastal defence . They look like wooden fences that are built down the beg at a right angle to the coast. Its designed to stop material being moved along the beach by longshore drift. They work by building up an amount of sand on beach. The side of the groyne facing the wave suffers erosion but the side protected from the wave allows deposition to occur and sand to build up
