High energy coastline + management - Holderness coast Flashcards
Give some facts about the Holderness coastline
61km long
From Flamborough heard in the north to Spurn Head in South
Eroding at 10m per year at cowden
Fastest eroding coast in Europe
What is significant about the cliffs
Mainly made of clay with till on top, which is easily eroded by solution, abrasion and Hydraulic action.
Prone to mas movement and slumping when wet
What is significant about the beaches
Very narrow - don’t provide protection for cliffs
narrow as Flamborough head stops sediment from the North replenishing the beaches
Lots of coast made of chalk which dissolves so when eroded it dissolves rather then make sand for beach
Waves
The sea floor is very deep, so little friction to slow down
Powerful waves, long fetch from arctic ocean
Weather systems pass from north sea so many destructive waves. With large wave height and high freq = lots of erosion
Effects of erosion 1:
30 villages lost since roman times
Property prices fallen dramatically due to risk of erosion
Visitor numbers dropped 30% between 96-06 in Bridlington
Caravan parks at risk from erosion - Ulrome loses 10 pitches a year
Very expensive - £2m spent in Mapleton in 1991
Effects of Erosion 2
Gas terminal at Easington is at risk, only 25 m from cliff edge. supplies 25% of Britain’s gas
80,000 m^2 lost of good quality farmland per year
SSSI’s threatened, eg at easington, turns breed, but if destroyed could kill them
Management
1/6th of coastline is protected by hard enginering (not much from 61km…)
4.7km of sea wall at Bridlington - tourists can walk on
Sea wall, rip rap, groynes all being used
In 1991, two rock groynes built to protect b roads
Effect of management
Groynes trap sediment but down the coast the erosion increases
Sediment doesnt not flow down the Humber estuary so possible flooding risk
Protection is encourageing bays to form - risk for pressure on headlands
Many are unsustainable
