Holderness coastline

• Physical processes affecting coastline:

  • Longshore drift - boulder clay is fine when eroded, so easily drifted by currents too out to sea. Beaches are also too narrow for friction to stop sediment
  • weathering - wetting and drying of boulder clay + freeze thaw
• Physical factors affecting affecting erosion rate:

  • structurally weak boulder clay
  • Despite low fetch, currents make powerful destructive waves . Low Pressure systems also raise sea levels, creating high tides (reach base of cliff)
• Other factors affecting rates of erosion:

  • the north sea is enclosed so creates huge waves (less energy can be dissipated)
  • sea floor is quite deep so less friction
  • winds are sometimes easterly
• Influence of human action:

  • Rock Groynes at Hornsea and Mappleton. Builds up beach but also causes terminal Groyne Syndrome
• 200 homes to be lost by 2100

  golden sands holiday park has lost 100 chalets in 15 years
• Since mappleton‘s Groyne Construction, Cowden (3km south) has had increased sediment erosion of (1.3m / year coast erosion in 16 years)
• Withernsea - strong sea wall but promenade is now smaller and sea views are blocked