Saltburn to Flamborough head

Question 1

Location and features of the coastline

Answer 1

High-energy coastline

Spans 60km along the East Yorkshire coast

discordant coastline

facing the North Sea

lying adjacent to the North Yorkshire Moors

Question 2

What makes it a high energy coastline?

Answer 2

Dominant waves from N-NE have a fetch of around 1500 km, leading to high energy waves - creates longshore drift from North to South

Question 3

Sediment sources of the coastline

Answer 3

some driven onshore at the end of last glacial till

cliff erosion

limited fluvial sediment due to river management

Question 4

Cliffs on the coastline

Answer 4

most cliffs are overlain by a layer of weak glacial till

Cliffs at Flamborough head are made of chalk (strong) and are 20-30 m high

Further North, between Robin Hood’s Bay and Saltburn, the cliffs are much higher and have a stepped profile due to weaker geology

Question 5

Headlands and Bays on the coastline

Answer 5

created due to being a discordant coastline

Robin Hood’s bay created due to weak shales eroding away, leaving only sandstone headlands on either side - Ravenscar to the south and Ness Point to the North

Further South, Filey Bay has been created due to being made of weak Kimmeridge clay with limestone and chalk either side

Flamborough head is formed from chalk with weak clay either side

Question 6

Wave Cut Platforms on the coastline

Answer 6

Robin Hood’s bay has a wave cut platform which slopes at a typical angle of 1 degrees but ramped sections could be as steep as 15 degrees. the wave cut platform has a width of 500m but extends further into the offshore zone

Question 7

Landforms on headlands

Answer 7

Wave refraction leads to wave energy being concentrated on the resistant headland

Weaknesses, such as joints or folds, are exploited by erosive action to form caves and arches - Selwick’s bay and Flamborough Head

Green Stacks Pinnacle - stack isolated at the end of a headland

50 Geos have formed along the coastline facing the dominant wave direction

Blowholes have developed where vertical joints have been enlarged

Question 8

Beaches on the coastline

Answer 8

Found in the sheltered, low-energy environment such as Scarborough and Filey Bay

Lack of spits and drift-aligned features, partly due to high tidal range of around 4 m and a lack of estuarine environments that would provide sediment sinks