Waves

Waves Coastal Erosion Cliff Recession Erosion of a headland

Coastal Erosion There are four main processes which cause coastal erosion. These are corrasion/abrasion, hydraulic action, attrition and corrosion/solution. Corrasion/abrasion is when waves pick up beach material (e.g. pebbles) and hurl them at the base of a cliff. When waves hit the base of a cliff air is compressed into cracks. when the wave retreats the air rushes out of the gap. Often this causes cliff matrial to break away. This process is known as hydraulic action. Attrition is when waves cause rocks and pebbles to bump into each other and break up. Corrosion/solution is when certain types of cliff erode as a result of weak acids in the sea.

Cliff Recession Erosion is greatest when waves break at the foot of a cliff. This causes erosion at the base of the cliff. This creates a wave-cut notch in the base of the cliff. As the notch increases in size the weight of the cliffs above become too much and the cliff collapses. This material will provide temporary protection for the cliff behind. However, once it has been removed by the sea this process will occur again. Where cliffs are made of more resistant material, wave cut platforms will be created.

Erosion of a headland A headland is an area of hard rock which sticks out into the sea. Headlands form in areas of alternating hard and soft rock. Where the soft rock erodes bays are formed either side of the headland. As the headland becomes more exposed to the wind and waves the rate of its erosion increases. When headlands erode they create distinct features such as caves, arches, stacks and stumps. The diagram below shows the sequence in the erosion of a headland.

Stage 1
Waves attack a weakness in the headland.

Stage 2
A cave is formed.

Stage 3
Eventually the cave erodes through the headland to form an arch.

Stage 4
The roof of the arch collapses leaving a column of rock called a stack.

Stage 5
The stack collapses leaving a stump.

Coastal Deposition
Coastal Depostition is when the sea drops or deposits material. This can include sand, sediment and shingle. Coastal Depostition Beaches Longshore Drift Other Features Formed By Deposition

Beaches The beach is the area between the lowest spring tide level and the point reached by the storm waves in the highest tides. Every beach is different but they are usually made up of material deposited on a wave-cut platform.

Longshore Drift Longshore drift is the movement of material along the shore by wave action.

Longshore drift happens when waves moves towards the coast at an angle. The swash (waves moving up the beach) carries material up and along the beach. The backwash carries material back down the beach at right angles. This is the reult of gravity. This process slowly moves material along the beach.

Longshore drift provides a link between erosion and deposition. Material in one place is eroded, transported then deposited elswhere.

Other Features Formed By Deposition Longshore drift moves material along a coastline. Where there is an obstruction or the power of the waves is reduced the material is deposited. Where rivers or estuaries meet the sea deposition often occurs. The sediment which is deposited usually builds up over the years to form a long ridge of material (usually sand or shingle). Such a ridge is called a spit. Spurn Head on the Holderness Coast is an example of this feature.

GeoNet is not responsible for the content of any of these sites

Marshes
Marshes Salt Marshes Sand Dunes

Salt Marshes A salt marsh is a coastal marsh that forms on mud flats. They usually form in very sheltered inlets and estuaries, or behind spits (places where fine sediment accumulates). As vegetation builds up on these mud flats salt marshes form.

Sand Dunes Sand dunes are created by strong winds and not by coastal erosion or deposition. As sand is blown up a beach is forms small hills. These are often rooted together by long-rooted grasses such as marram grass. Marram grass is usually planted to reduce the erosion of the otherwise unstable sand dunes.

Location
Flamborough is the headland that forms the most northerly point of the Holderness Coast.

Geology
The most striking aspect of Flamborough Head are the white chalk cliffs that surround it. The chalk lies in distinct horizontal layers, formed from the remains of tiny sea creatures millions of years ago. Above the chalk at the top of the cliffs is a layer of till (glacial deposits) left behind by glaciers 18,000 years ago, during the last Ice Age. As the cliffs below are worn away by the action of the waves, the clay soil often falls into the sea in huge landslips.

Coastal Features

The sea attacks the coast around the headland in two ways. Waves beat against the vertical cliffs and, at the high water line, weak points in the chalk are worn away into caves. The weakest points are where vertical cracks or fault lines have appeared in the horizontal beds of chalk. At places on the cliffs where the chalk juts out, these caves are worn away into rock arches. If the top of an arch collapses, the result is a pillar of chalk cut off from the rest of the headland - this is called a stack. Flamborough Head has many caves and arches, as well as a few stacks. The process of erosion that has created them can take hundreds of years to do its work.

Location
Situated approximately 3km south of Hornsea lies the village of Mappleton. Supporting approximately 50 properties, the village has been subject to intense erosion at a rate of 2.0m per year, resulting in the access road being only 50m from the cliff edge at its closest point.

Geology
Mappleton lies upon unconsolidated till. This material was deposited by glaciers during the last ice age 18,000 years ago.

Coastal Features
The two rock groynes at Mappleton have helped develop wide and steep sandy beaches.

Coastal Management
In 1991 two rock groynes and a rock revetment were built, as a consequence a substantial beach accumulated between the groynes halting erosion. However, further south the rate of erosion has increased significantly. This is because material which is being carried south is not being replaced (it is trapped within the groynes). Therefore there is no beach to protect the cliffs. Even

during a neap tide ( a tide which is 30% less than the average tidal range) the sea reaches the base of the soft cliffs and erosion occurs.

The Holderness Coast is one of Europe's fastest eroding coastlines. The average annual rate of

erosion is around 2 metres per year. The main reason for this is because the bedrock is made up of till. This material was deposited by glaciers over 18,000 years ago. The Holderness Coast is a great case study to use when examining coastal processes and the features associated with them. The area contains 'text book' examples of coastal erosion and deposition. The chalk of Flamborough provides examples of erosion, features such as caves, arches and stacks. The soft boulder clay underlying Hornsea provides clear evidence of the erosional power of the sea. Mappleton is an excellent case study of an attempt at coastal management. Spurn Point provides evidence of longshore drift on the Holderness Coast. It is an excellent example of a spit.

Location
The area known as Spurn forms the southern extremity of the Holderness coast and includes the unique feature of Spurn Head, a sand and shingle spit 5.5km long, reaching across the mouth of the Humber.

Geology
Spurn is made up of the material which has been transported along the Holderness Coast. This includes sand, sediment and shingle.

Coastal Features
Spurn Head is an example of a feature geographers call a spit.

The spit forms a sweeping curve which continues the line of the coast. The sand which forms the spit has been transported along the Holderness Coast by longshore drift. The energy in the waves transporting the material reduces where the North Sea meets the Humber Estuary. As a result the material is deposited. This process is known as deposition.