Coasts- Holderness

Question 1

How long is the holderness coastline?

Answer 1

61km long

Question 2

Where does the holderness coastline stretch from?

Answer 2

Flamborough Head to Spurn point

Question 3

What are most of the cliffs made up of?

Answer 3

Till or boulder clay

Question 4

What is the coast exposed to?

Answer 4

Powerful destructive waves from the North Sea during storms

Question 5

What coastal processes are operating in the area?

Answer 5

Erosion
Mass movement
Transportation
Deposition

Question 6

What is erosion like at the holderness?

Answer 6

Soft boulder clay easily eroded by wave action
Eg Great Cowden- rate of erosion 10m/ year

Question 7

What is mass movement like at the holderness?

Answer 7

Boulder clay prone to slumping when wet
Water makes the clay heavier and act as a lubricant between particles making it unstable

Question 8

What is transportation like at the holderness?

Answer 8

-Prevailing winds from the northeast transport material southwards.
-These winds create an ocean current which transports material southwards by longshore drift
-rapid erosion means there’s always plenty of sediment to be transported

Question 9

What is deposition like on the holderness coastline?

Answer 9

Where the ocean current means the outflow of the Humber river, the flow becomes turbulent and sediment is deposited

Question 10

What are five distinct landscapes on the holderness?

Answer 10

Headland and wave cut platform
Beaches
Sand dunes
Spit
Slumping cliffs

Question 11

Headland and wave cut platforms at holderness

Answer 11

To the north of the area, boulder clay overlies chalk
Chalk is harder and less easily eroded so has formed a headland (flamborough head)
And wave cut platforms like Sewerby

Question 12

What is flamborough head?

Answer 12

A headland

Question 13

What features have formed at flamborough head?

Answer 13

Stacks
Caves
Arches

Question 14

What’s the beach like at holderness?

Answer 14

The area to the south of Flamborough head is sheltered from wind and waves
And a wide sand and pebble beach has formed near Bridlington

Question 15

What are sand dunes like at holderness?

Answer 15

Around spurn head
Material transported by the wind is deposited forming sand dunes

Question 16

What are spits like at the holderness?

Answer 16

Erosion and longshore drift have created a spit with a recurved end across the mouth of the Humber Estuary- spurn head

Question 17

What is spurn head?

Answer 17

A spit
With landward side homing estuarine mudflats and saltmarshes

Question 18

How far has the holderness retreated over the past 2000 years

Answer 18

4km

Question 19

How many villages at the holderness have been lost?

Answer 19

30

Question 20

What could ongoing erosion cause?

Answer 20

Social
Economic and environmental problems

Question 21

Loss of settlements and livelihoods

Answer 21

Village of Skipsea is at risk and 80,000 m^2 of good quality farmland is lost each year

Question 22

Loss of infrastructure

Answer 22

Gas terminal at Easington is only 25 m from the cliff edge

Question 23

Loss of SSSI

Answer 23

Sites of specific interest
Lagoons near Easington provide habitats for birds

Question 24

How much of the holderness coastline is currently protected?

Answer 24

11.4km / 61km

Question 25

What is protected by a 4.7km long sea wall and timber groynes?

Answer 25

Bridlington

Question 26

What is placed at Hornsea to protect the village?

Answer 26

RIP rap

Question 27

What hard engineering strategies are in place at Mappleton?

Answer 27

Two rock groynes 500m long revetments

Question 28

How much did the mappleton hard engineering strategies cost?

Answer 28

£2 million and were vuilt to protect the village and the B1242 coastal road

Question 29

What has a landowner in skipsea done?

Answer 29

Use Gabions to help protect his caravan park

Question 30

What is at Withernsea?

Answer 30

Groynes and a sea wall Some rip rap also placed infront of the wall after it was damaged by severe storm in 1992

Question 31

How is Easington gas terminal protected?

Answer 31

By a revetment

Question 32

How is the eastern side of spurn head protected?

Answer 32

By groynes and rip rap

Question 33

Why are the current schemes not sustainable?- groynes

Answer 33

Trap sediment increasing the width of the beaches Protects local area but increases erosion of the cliffs down drift as material eroded aren’t replenished

Question 34

What’s a downside of the Mappleton scheme?

Answer 34

Increased erosion of the cliffs south of Mappleton Cowden Farm in now at risk of falling into the sea

Question 35

What happens to the sediment produced from the erosion of the holderness coastline?

Answer 35

Normally washed into the Humber Estuary (where it helps to form tidal mudflats) and down the Lincolnshire coast Reduction in this sediment increases the risk of flooding along the Humber estuary, and increases erosion along the Lincolnshire coast

Question 36

What’s the protection of local areas leading to?

Answer 36

The formation of bays between areas. As bays develop the wave pressure on headlands will increase and eventually cost of maintaining the sea defences may become too high These problems make existing schemes unsustainable

Question 37

What coastal method is recommended for the Holderness?

Answer 37

Holding the line at some settlements and doing nothing along less popular stretches Unpopular with owners of land or property

Question 38

Why has managed realignment been suggested?

Answer 38

Moving things inland Allowing for erosion to occur More sustainable scheme as it would allow the coast to erode as normal without endangering businesses Issues on how much compensation businesses would receive

Question 39

What happened to spurn head?

Answer 39

Holderness borough council decided to stop protecting it Saves money and allows the spit to function naturally Over washing may damage mash environments behind the spit Coastguard station also at risk

Question 40

What is Easington gas terminal protected by and why? And what’s happening to village of Easington

Answer 40

Rock revetments Defences maintained as long as gas terminal is operating Defences only span 1km in front of the gas terminal Village of Easington with 700 population isn’t protected Increase erosion at SSSI to the south