Coasts: Case Studies

Question 1

Headlands and Bays

Answer 1

Swanage Bay (wealden beds) and Ballard Point (portland limestone), Dorset

Question 2

Cave, Arch, Stack, Stump

Answer 2

Old Harry Rocks, Dorset (chalk)
Durdle Door, Dorset (limestone)

Question 3

Wave Cut Platform

Answer 3

Selwicks Bay, Flamborough, Wales (chalk)

Question 4

Geos

Answer 4

Shetland Islands
Huntsman’s Leap, South Wales

Question 5

Blowhole

Answer 5

Cave Hole, Portland, Dorset

Question 6

Cove

Answer 6

Lulworth Cove, Dorset

Question 7

Spit

Answer 7

Hurst Spit, Hampshire

Question 8

Beach

Answer 8

Sandbanks Beach, Poole, Dorset

Question 9

Bayhead Beach

Answer 9

Lulworth Cove, Dorset

Question 10

Offshore Bar

Answer 10

Scooby Sands, Norfolk

Question 11

Barrier Beach

Answer 11

Loe Bar, Cornwall

Question 12

Barrier Island

Answer 12

South Texas Coast

Question 13

Tombolo

Answer 13

St Ninian’s, Shetland Islands

Question 14

Double Spit

Answer 14

Poole Harbour, Dorset

Question 15

Cuspate Foreland

Answer 15

Dungeness, Kent

Question 16

Raised Beach

Answer 16

Isle of Arran

Question 17

Rias

Answer 17

Kingsbridge Estuary, Devon

Question 18

Fjords

Answer 18

Milford Sound, New Zealand

Question 19

Dalmatian Coasts

Answer 19

Croatia

Question 20

Rockfall

Answer 20

St Oswald’s Bay (2013)
- 100m of cliff path collapsed
Dorset (2021)
- 300m of cliff east of Seatown collapsed, leading to coastal path being cordoned off

Question 21

Rotational Slumping

Answer 21

Holbeck Hall Hotel, Scarborough (1993)
- Over half of hotel collapsed despite previously being 100m from cliff edge
- Caused by glacial till becoming oversaturated with water due to heavy rainfall (140mm in two months running up to mass movement)

Question 22

Offshore Dredging

Answer 22

Hallsands, Devon
- 660,000 tonne sof sediment removed
- 1917 storm destroyed village

Question 23

Dams

Answer 23

Aswan High Dam, River Nile, Egypt
- Erosion rates have increased from 25m a year to 200m a year
Mekong, Vietnam
- Upstream dams in China and Laos trap sediment, leading to loss of land in the delta in Vietnam
- Floods in 2011 caused 85 deaths and thousands of hectares of rice paddies to be lost

Question 24

Storms

Answer 24

Storm Darragh, Hemsby (December 2024)
- 3 - 4m of land lost
- sand dunes falling into sea
Storm Babet, Musselburgh, East Scotland (October 2023)
- 4,000 cubic metres of sediment removed from beaches

Question 25

Contemporary Sea Level Change

Answer 25

Maldives Kiribati Dhaka, Bangladesh - some areas just 2m above sea level - 13 million residents, with many living in informal housing

Question 26

Sea Level Change Caused by Tectonic Activity

Answer 26

Boxing Day Tsunami (2004) - Upwards movement of sea bed along offshore fault line reduced capacity of entire Indian Ocean, causing permanent sea level rise of 0.1mm - Parts of Banda Aceh now permanently flooded

Question 27

River Deltas

Answer 27

Bangladesh - River discharge from Ganges, Bahrmutua and

Question 28

Storm Surges Caused by Depressions

Answer 28

North Sea Storm Surge (1953) - 2,500 killed - 65,000 hectares of farmland and 20,000 homes flooded - £1.2 billion in damages North Sea Storm Surge (2013) - 15 killed - 2,500 homes and businesses flooded

Question 29

Storm Surges Caused by Tropical Storms

Answer 29

Cyclone Sidr, Bangladesh (2007) - storm surge reached 10m in places - $1.7 billion in damages - 2 million lost source of income Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines (2013) - 6,300 deaths - 90% of city of Tacloban destroyed - 800,000 litre oil leak contaminated 10 hectares of mangrove swamps in Estancia Hurricane Katrina, US (2005) - caused over $100 billion damage - interrupted oil production, hitting global oil prices

Question 30

Megaprojects

Answer 30

Thames Barrier, London - Deltawerken, Netherlands -

Question 31

Removal of Mangroves

Answer 31

Bangladesh - conversion of mangroves into shrimp farms for aquaculture

Question 32

Protection of Mangroves

Answer 32

Sri Lanka Mangroves for the Future (MMF), Maldives

Question 33

Flood Protection

Answer 33

Dhaka, Bangladesh - construction of embankments, concrete reinforced walls and pumping stations

Question 34

Coastal Recession

Answer 34

Happisburgh, North Norfolk - prior to construction of rock embankment, over one property was lost per year Holderness Coast, East of England - average rate of erosion is 2m per year - 30 villages lost since Roman times - properties under threat of erosion lose value, leaving homeowners with negative equity

Question 35

Climate Change Refugees

Answer 35

Maldives - following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the Maldives government started moving people from it lowest 200 islands to the fewer higher ones Tuvalu - 3,000 of 10,800 residents have already moved to New Zealand under labour migration plan - 75 citizens of Tonga are granted residency status in New Zealand each year under the Pacific Access Category Ballot

Question 36

Hard Engineering

Answer 36

Hornsea - Sea walls, groynes, rock armour to create wider beach - caused terminal groyne effect downdraft in Mappleton Swanage, Dorset - Timber groynes to protect amenity value of beach

Question 37

Soft Engineering

Answer 37

Swanage, Dorset - 1.1 million cubic metres of sand dredged from Poole Harbour an dumped onto beaches of Swanage, Poole and Bournemouth Studland Bay Nature Reserve, Dorset - marram grass planted for dune stabilisation - introduced information boards aimed to educate visitors on protecting environment

Question 38

Rocky (High Energy) Coastlines

Answer 38

Scotland - Igneous rock (granite) - Destructive waves

Question 39

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)

Answer 39

Norfolk Coastline - Bacton Gas Terminal = 'hold the line' as it supplies 1/3 of UK's natural gas - Happisburgh = managed realignment as it's home to 850 people and 18 listed buildings but less economic value - Sea Palling = 'hold the line' due to Blue Flag status, significant tourism industry and manned lifeboat station - Winterton = no intervention, as is a place of deposition and sand dunes protect area from erosion

Question 40

Estuarine (Low Energy) Coastlines

Answer 40

Holderness Coast, Norfolk, Eastern Coast of England - Unconsolidated sedimentary rock (glacial till and boulder clays) - Constructive waves

Question 41

Geological Features (Joints, Fissures, Caves)

Answer 41

Glamorgan Coastline, Wales

Question 42

Psammosere Development

Answer 42

Studland Bay, Dorset

Question 43

Halosere Development

Answer 43

Blackwater Estuary, Essex