CASE STUDY-HOLDERNESS COAST

Question 1

how fast is the coast eroding every year?

Answer 1

around 2m per year.

Question 2

what is the Geology like?

Answer 2

at Flamborough head-boulder clay overlying chalk cliffs.
alluvium- loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited
boulder clay is structurally weak and has little resistant to erosion

Question 3

what is the fetch like on the coast?

Answer 3

-exposed to wind and waves from the North-East with a fetch of 500-800km across the North Sea

Question 4

how does the weather affect the coast?

Answer 4

winter storms in North sea are often intense and the low pressure raises the sea level, producing higher tides than normal and the storms add energy to the waves

Question 5

what kind of mass movement is common along the coast?

Answer 5

rotational slumps and major landslides

Question 6

what happens regarding longshore drift?

Answer 6

boulder clay erodes easily and produces very small, fine clay particles which are easily transported by longshore drift along the coast an is deposited elsewhere.

Question 7

what is the sediment cell of Holderness?

Answer 7

Flamborough head-source region
Holderness coast-transfer region
Spurn head-sink region
a sediment cell is a linked system of sources transfers and sinks of sediment along a section of coastline

Question 8

how is equilibrium upset on the Holderness coast?

Answer 8

can be upset by natural vents and human actions e.g. the rock groynes at Mappleton which cost £2 million and starved other places of sediment

Question 9

what are the social effects of processes?

Answer 9

• 30 villages lost since the roman times.
• difficult to get insurance/mortgage
• property prices along the coast fallen sharply
• loss of homes and a dairy farm

Question 10

what are the economical effects of processes?

Answer 10

• 80,000m² of good quality farmland is lost each year
• tourist number is Bridlington dropped by over 30% between 1998-2006
• loss of jobs in the area is resulting in internal migration of young people.
• Gas terminal at Easington at risk as its 25m away form cliff edge and it provides 25% of Britain’s gas supply

Question 11

what are the environmental effects of processes?

Answer 11

SSSIs(sites of special scientific interest) are threatened -the lagoons near Easington
-the Lagoon is separated from the sea by a narrow strip of sand and shingle and if eroded lagoon would be lost

Question 12

what is the future threat?

Answer 12

if sea levels continue to rise by a couple meters due to climate change by the end of the century all settlements will be lost.

Question 13

what is the strategy at Hornsea?

Answer 13

• holiday resort, hotels
  defences: sea walls, rock armour, groynes
  impact: groynes maintain the beach but down the coast Mappleton has been starved of sediment as a result

Question 14

what is the strategy at Mappleton?

Answer 14

• settlement
  defences: 2 rock groynes (£2million,1991), Rock armour
  impact: At Great Cowden 3km south of Mappleton sediment starvation has occurred causing increased erosion of the cliffs

Question 15

what is the strategy at Withernsea?

Answer 15

defences: straight sea wall (1875)over time base of the wall was eroded and it collapsed and in 1990 the wall was replaced by a curved wall(£6.3 million)
impact: waves are noisier when breaking against walls. Views from sea front hotels are restricted and some find the rip-rap at the base of sea wall unattractive

Question 16

where is the Holderness coast?

Answer 16

east coast of England

Question 17

where was there a starvation of sediment due to the 2 rock groynes?

Answer 17

Great Cowden(cliff eroded there )

Question 18

what are the environmental challenges?

Answer 18

• SSSIs threatened-lagoon near easington which is separated from the sea by narrow strip of sand
• freshwater mere at Hornsea has problems with occasional sea water inundation

Question 19

Where is there a nature reserve

Answer 19

At spurn head