Criccieth local scale coastal envroinment Case Study

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

to investigate impacts of coastal processes on coastal landforms and people along the Criccieth coastline

Question 2

hypothesis

Answer 2

the size of the beach will increase with distance across Criccieth bay, this is because of longshore drift

Question 3

secondary research

Answer 3

what longshore drift is
how it enlarges bay in the west
what controls the wave strength and LSD direction (fetch, orientation in relation to SW prevailing wind)

Question 4

sampling techniques used (choosing profile locations)

Answer 4

stratified sampling: split beach into 3 sections, aimed to carry out 2 beach profiles in each area
justification: better overall view of beach, using systematic could only have measured sites at one small area of beach. also helped us avoid dangerous sections of the beach

Question 5

sampling techniques used (collecting data from each profile)

Answer 5

systematic sampling: measured width of beach and took readings at 5 metre intervals
justifiction: easy to carry out, accurate and unbiased. using stratified we could have left out areas, leading to biased and inaccurate results

Question 6

qualitative evidence

Answer 6

the beach at site 3 was much smaller because: the SW prevailing wind met the orientation of the coastline at a 50% angle, meaning LSD was particularly strong at removing material
the groynes caused beach starvation via LSD causing less sediment to reach parts of the bay further along the beach
beach scour: when waves hit the sea wall, they can rebound and take sediment of the beach

Question 7

qualitative evidence (site one)

Answer 7

the beach at site one was not the smallest as the break water created low energy conditions and encouraged greater levels of deposition

Question 8

qualitative evidence (site 12)

Answer 8

the beach at site 12 was alot larger because LSD travels in an eastern direction due to the SW prevailing wind in relation to the coastline, aswell as the erroding cliffs in the middle providing more sediment.
Graig Duu headland also limits the amount sediment that can be removed by LSD

Question 9

graphical representation of quantitative data (what was the TEAR)

Answer 9

trend:beach becomes larger as you get closer to east of the bay
example: over doubles in size between sites 3 and 12.
anomaly: site 1 should have been the smallest but site 3 was
range: 5.30 - 2.15 = 3.15
justification: by drawing each beach profile on the same graph you can make easy and direct comparisons between each beach section

Question 10

method one (collection of quantative primary data)

Answer 10

stratified sampling was used to select each beach measurement site. A 50 m measuring tape was used to measure from the top of the beach to the sea. then a dumpy level was set up and made level by manipulating the legs of the tripod until the spirit level indicated it was level. one member of the team held the 5m staff up at the top of the beach. a reading was taken by looking to see were the crosshairs lined up with the staff. this figure was written down. another reading was taken in the same way 5m further down the beach. the second figure was subtracted from the first to show how the height of the beach had changed. this was repeated every 5m until we reached the sea.

Question 11

justification of method one

Answer 11

helps to provide quantative data so each section of beach can be easily compared. we can therefore sea how the height of each section of the beach changes and see whether our hypothesis was correct. this method was also easy to carry out and provided accurate data.

Question 12

method two (collection of qualitative primary evidence)

Answer 12

took photos and wrote down how this explained the data we were collecting e.g groynes/breakwaters
justification: helped us collect data that we couldnt have got from the beach profile data alone. this method helps us interpret why some sections of beach were bigger than others.

Question 13

spearmans rank

Answer 13

formula: 1 - ((6*d^2)/(n^3-n))
ranked distance across the bay from largest to smallest and did the same with beach width. we took one from the other to find the difference and then squared the resulting value to get d^2 = 16.
N=12 as we took readings from 12 sites. plugging these numbers in gives us 0.9441
justification: clearly shows correlation with no interpretation
limitations: shows correlation but not causation
level of signifance on degrees of freedom chart is 0.1% so there is a 99% chance of correlation

Question 14

evidence for/against hypothesis (quantitative)

Answer 14

for: beach profile diagram shows beach become larger in the east. also spearmans rank shows positive correlation between distance across the bay and beach size.
against: site one was the furthest west but not the smallest

Question 15

evidence for/against hypothesis (qualititative)

Answer 15

for: photograph showing beach larger in east due to Graig Duu, which acts as a massive groyne
against: photograph showing site one wasnt the smallest, suggesting an anomaly

Question 16

overall opinion in regards to hypothesis

Answer 16

I believe that my hypothesis is correct as the trend shown in the beach profile diagram shows that the beach was infact larger in the east. the qualitative evidence shows that the erroding cliffs and Graig Duu has lead to an increased input of sediment at the eastern end of the bay explaining the reasons for the trends in the diagram. therefore it can be seen that LSD was moving sediment to the east of the beach, proving the hypothesis correct.

Question 17

conclusion in regard to project aim: how do coastal processes affect landforms (beaches) at Criccieth bay?

Answer 17

LSD has moved sediment to east of bay, creating large bay

Question 18

conclusion in regard to project aim: how does the impact upon the beach affect people and Criccieth bay?

Answer 18

LSD has caused beach starvation to the west, where the town is, so hard engineering has had to be installed.

Question 19

how was your primary data collection succesful?

Answer 19

we managed to collect a variety of quantitative and qualitative data which allowed us to effectively test our hypothesis and come to an indea about the effects of LSD on the coastal landform of beach size and this also helps us to understand the chosen methods of sea defences ar Criccieth bay

Question 20

what were the limitations of primary data collection

Answer 20

time: ran out of time and so did not get to measure more sites. also only here for one day so dont have data for other times of year.
dangerous areas: couldnt get data from under eroding cliffs. also tide was in so could not measure all parts of the beach

Question 21

how could you overcome the limitations

Answer 21

use 12 groups to measure all sites at same time when tide was out. could return at other parts of year and measure area under fast eroding cliffs

Question 22

what was succesful about your graphical data presentation (line graph)

Answer 22

drew all beach profiles on same graph so easy and direct comparisons can be made

Question 23

out line a limitation of the graphical data presentation (line graph)

Answer 23

scales of axis do not match so it gives false impression that the beach is steeper than it actually is

Question 24

what was succesful about your statistical data analysis (spearmans rank)

Answer 24

gives exact and indisputable numerical evidence

Question 25

limitation of your statistical data analysis (spearmans rank)

Answer 25

does not show reasons for the data

Question 26

how could your study be further developed?

Answer 26

by coming back at different times of year and measuring beach under eroding cliffs