Slapton Flashcards
Where is Slapton?
South of the UK
County of Devon
Between towns of Dartmouth and Kingsbridge
Near the city of Plymouth
Why did we go to Slapton?
Fits with coasts topic Rare coastal landforms Key coastal processes Close to a city- human fieldwork High rates of erosion so has sea wall and defences Cheap Easy to access Accommodation for 100+ students Excellent facilities- field studies centre
What were we investigating at Slapton?
Defences
Gradient of beach
Buildings
Pebble size
What was our key question?
How and why does beach characteristics change along a stretch of coastline
Hypothesis 1
Beach width increases moving north from Torcross due to long shore drift
Hypothesis 2
Sediment size decreases with distance north from Torcross due to attrition
Hypothesis 3
Coastal protection increases with land value as shown with the sea walk built in the town of Torcross
What primary methods of data were used?
Beach profiles Lithology Photos Field sketches Cost benefit analysis
Quantitative data
Objective (factual) data with numbers
Which methods of data were quantitative?
Lithology
Cost benefit analysis
Qualitative data
Subjective
Non numerical
Which methods of data are qualitative?
Field sketch
Photos
What methods are quantitative?
Cost benefit analysis
Lithology
Beach profiles
Examples of secondary data
British Geology Survey (BGS)
What did BGS allow us to do?
See if the primary data collected was in line with larger scale data collection
Random sampling
Least biased of all sampling techniques
No subjectivity
Random areas generated from random number generators
Stratified sampling
Population divided into separate groups, called strata
Probability sample drawn from each group
2 contrasting areas
Systematic sampling
Regular
Evenly distributed in a spatial context
How were results for sediment size represented?
Compound bar chart
Location plotted on X axis, sediment size on Y axis
Why are the compound bar charts useful?
Allowed more than one data set to be plotted onto the graph- easy to compare
How were field sketches and photographs analysed? What is good and bad about this method?
Photos overlaid onto field sketch to compare and annotate each one
Isn’t subjective, simple, visual, easy to analyse
Must have equipment
How is cost benefit analysis analysed? What is good and bad about this method?
Rose diagram, put onto GIS maps to make charts, overlay on top of a map
Improved accuracy, no human error
Must have expensive equipment
How is lithology analysed? What is good and bad about this method?
Bar chart
Simple, easy to analyse
Depends on personal results, human error
How is beach profiling analysed? What is good and bad about this method?
Line graph
Easy to analyse, simple
Relies on personal results, human error
