Swanage Bay case study

• Swanage


  Coastal town in the Dorset region of South West England
• Swanage's coastline


  • Has many coastal landforms
  • Due to varied geology

  
• Geology


  Alternating bands of hard and soft rock
• Hard rock


  Limestone & Chalk - more resistant to erosion
• Soft rock


  Clays and sands - less resistant to erosion
• Discordant coastline


  Alternating bands of hard and soft rock
• Coastal landforms in Swanage


  • Studland Bay
  • Ballard Point
  • Old Harry & His Wife
  • Swanage Bay
  • Durlston Head
  • Poole Harbour
• Studland Bay


  Erodes faster than Ballard Point
• Studland Bay


  • Made of clays and sand - little resistance to erosion
  • Formed sandy beaches - good for tourism

  
• Ballard Point


  • Headland made of chalk - resistant to erosion
  • Formed caves - home to coastal wildlife

  
• Old Harry & His Wife

  Stack and stump formed from resistant chalk through cave-arch-stack-stump sequence
• Swanage Bay


  • Bay formed between two headlands due to faster erosion of sands & chalk
  • Sandy beaches - popular with tourists
  • Provides seasonal income
• Durlston Head


  • Formed from resistant limestone - erodes slowly compared to soft sands & clays nearby
  • Beaches are rocky from mass movement of materials off cliffs - less accessible

  
• Poole Harbour


  • One of the largest natural harbours in Europe
  • Formed due to increased deposition at the mouth of several rivers
  • Formed a large estuary with calm seas for sailing and salt marshes for wildlife