Coastal Case Studies Flashcards
What is Bournemouth
- Bournemouth is located in Dorset.
- It’s a seaside resort town that massively profits of tourism.
- It receives an average of 800mm of rainfall annually.
- It’s a well known holiday destination in the Uk and has a population of around 187,500.
Describe Bournemouth
- Man-Made Groin: Due to Bournemouths income being mainly reliant on the tourists that come here, sand is very important. So man-made groins are built to prevent LSD from dragging away all the sand.
- Human Activity- There is a lot of human activity around this beach and it is how money is earned in this area for the locals of this place. It also attracts more and more tourists.
- Intertidal Zone-The intertidal Zone is slanted which indicates that Bournemouth beach is a bay.
- Geology- Very weak rock types. Mainly sandstone, mudstones and mixtures of clay and sand
- Rotational slumping- Because of the abundance of Groins stopping LSD forming spits and carrying sand, when the coast bends there is no sand on the other side. This can make the beaches starved of material and cause slumping. This is when there’s no sand blocking the water from the clay/gravel. The impermeable mudstone absorbs water from the rain and sea through the permeable gravel and becomes heavier as a result. And this heaviness causes the rock to slump and create a very deformed coastline.
- Marine processes- There isn’t too much erosion that can go on due to abundance of sand at Bournemouth. But there are slumps behind Hengistbury Head. Instead there are probably quite a lot of saltation, small amounts of LSD and some suspension of sand pebbles.
What is Lulworth cove / Durdle door
- Lulworth cove and Durdle door are two remarkable places on the south coast of England situated in Dorset.
- The average rainfall fall of this area is 740mm per year.
- The windiest months are January (11 mph avg).
- It’s a massive tourist attraction and springs up lots of opportunity for money in the tourist industry
Describe Lulworth cove / Durdle door
- Crescent shaped bay- bays can form into a present shape when water gets into cracks and crevices in hard rock and erodes all the way to the soft rock behind. Because the softer rock can be eroded easier, lots of erosion occurs and the bay expands out towards the sides behind the hard rock, forming a crescent shape
- Geology- Geology of what hard rocks and soft rocks are is relevant to whats around. In this case the hard rock in this area is Portland limestone and the softer rocks are made up of a mixture of clay and sand
- Biological Weathering- We can see collections of shrubs and vegetation growing on the top and side of the cliff. The roots will dislodge rocks causing sub aerial processes like rock falls.
- Intertidal Zone- from looking at the land formations we can see evidence of abrasion and hydraulic action where there are arches and caves and cracks in the rocks. We can tell from looking at the sediment that it’s made up of sand and pebbles. This would indicate that when the tide comes in, saltation and suspension would occur and deposit the sand away. The beach is at a 90° which causes the backwash of waves to travel at this angle.
What is Old Harry/Studland Bay / Ballard Point / Swanage Bay
Old Harry in the Isle Of Purbeck is a peninsular of 200km². It’s location the south coast of England. It receives a ‘mild temperate Atlantic Climate with mean annual rainfall of around 777mm. The local town around it, ‘Studland’ has an estimated total population of around 425 (2011).
Describe Old Harry/Studland Bay / Ballard Point / Swanage Bay
Biological Weathering- A Large field that seems to have grass growing though and into the rocks
Sub aerial processes- The edge of the cliff looks heavy eroded and overhanging. Indicates there are a lot of rock falls that happen. We can see evidence of cliff falls at the sediment at the bottom (just visible) of the cliff
Intertidal zone- Here in the intertidal zone we can see erosion of all types of erosion that has formed the steep cliff face and the wave cut platform in between the stacks
Collapsed archway- We can see from the out stretching line of land. Small caves, a collapsed archway, collection of stacks and eroded stumps. This indicates that at some point in the past there would’ve been arches and more land around this large out stretch.
Rock type- We can see that there is evidence of exposed chalk rock. This is the hardest rock around the local area. So relatively speaking, the chalk is hard rock. This would also tell us that the erosion that has taken place here must’ve taken thousands of years
What is Highcliffe
Highcliffe beach is located in Highcliffe Seaside town, Dorset in England. The average amount of precipitation for this area is around 781.0mm annually . Since it is situated on the south coast of England, it recieves a warmer and wetter climate than the rest of the UK.
Describe highcliffe
Spit-At the end of this beach we can see that it hooks round and a spit is visible. This occurs when LSD carries on depositing material along a straight line direction when the coast bends, it still continues in this line. The spit gains this hook from the prevailing wind.
Sloped sand dunes- The angled / steep beach suggests that the backwash of the waves are around 90° and would indicate that not much material can be carried away from LSD due to the further journey for the waves at a steeper angle.
Intertidal Zone- The intertidal Zone seems quite small and would suggest that there aren’t much differences between when there’s low tide and high tide. LSD and suspension would occur here.
Groins- These man made structures are built to prevent sand being taken away by LSD. This is necessary for the tourist business for around this are because most tourists only come to this are for the sand on the beach and without the sand there’d be no tourists.
Geology- There are no hard rocks here due to it being a bay, but there are a lot of clay and sand, as well as clay marine sediments
What are highcliffe’s management plans
Rock armour revetment- Numbers of large boulders are interlocked together. They work together to absorb and deflect the impacts of waves before they can reach and erode the shore.
Sea wall - Reflect incident wave energy back out to sea. Since the wave loses energy the amount they can erode is decreased.
Rock armour groyne – Groynes prevent marine transportation of sediment, more specifically LSD. With the use of the rocks it not only traps some of the sediment, but it can also deflects the sediment back into place. With the rock armour, it doesn’t rot like wooden groins, so it lasts longer
Cliff drainage- Barriers and drains are built into the cliffs to intercept water movement and eliminate surface runoff and
What is Bournemouth
Bournemouth is located in Dorset. It’s a seaside resort town that massively profits of tourism. It receives an average of 800mm of rainfall annually. It’s a well known holiday destination in the Uk and has a population of around 187,500.
Describe Bournemouth
Man-Made Groin- Due to Bournemouths income being mainly reliant on the tourists that come here, sand is very important. So man-made groins are built to prevent LSD from dragging away all the sand.
Human Activity- There is a lot of human activity around this beach and it is how money is earned in this area for the locals of this place. It also attracts more and more tourists.
Intertidal Zone-The intertidal Zone is slanted which indicates that Bournemouth beach is a bay.
Geology- Very weak rock types. Mainly sandstone, mudstones and mixtures of clay and sand
Rotational cliff Cycle- Because of the abundance of Groins stopping LSD forming spits and carrying sand, when the coast bends there is no sand on the other side. This can make the beaches starved of material and cause RCC. This is when there’s no sand blocking the water from the clay/gravel. The impermeable mudstone absorbs water from the rain and sea through the permeable gravel and becomes heavier as a result. And this heaviness causes the rock to slump and create a very deformed coastline.
Marine processes- There isn’t too much erosion that can go on due to abundance of sand at Bournemouth. But there is Rotational cliff cycle behind Hengistbury Head. Instead there are probably quite a lot of saltation, small amounts of LSD and some suspension of sand pebbles.
What is Hurst spit
Hurst Spit is 1 mile long shingle bank situated in the solent on the south coast of England. It’s a popular place for people doing water sport activities and those who are interested in coming to the cool spit. It’s located near a village called Keyhaven which is in Hamphire.
Describe Hurst spit
Spit- Spits form when long shore drift continues to move sediment in a certain direction. Then when the coast bends material is still deposited along in the same direction, forming a spit.
Hooks round- The spit hooks around when theres a strong prevailing wind effecting the waves during Long shore drift
Salt Marsh- Salt marshes are formed behind spits. This is because the area behind a spit becomes sheltered. This then means that water movement slows down and so more material is deposited. In this abundance of deposited material, salt marshes form
Human activity- Nearby to this spit there is lots of human activity. This is because of three reasons. The solent is a great fishing area and attracts many industries to invest in this area. The solent is a great place to sail out of because it provides direct access to channel islands and the rest of the Atlantic Ocean. Lastly it receives lots of trade and large tank ships with imports from all over the world.
Geology- Because a spit is formed by deposition of sediment, there isn’t actually much interesting geology. Instead this spit mainly constructed of shingle and sand.
