G: Holderness coast

G: Holderness coast

1. Flamborough Head

   • Flamborough Head is a headland made of chalk which is a resistant rock. The strata in the rock is mostly horizontal and the lines between each of the layers are referred to as bedding planes. Vertical cracks (also known as joints) turn into lines of weakness that are attacked by various types of marine erosion processes that lead to the creation of numerous erosion landforms (CracASS, Headland and Bays and Wave cut notches and platforms)

2. Geology

   • Holderness us protected by the chalk-made Flamborough Head. The chalk dips below the boulder clay just north of Bridlington. Boulder clay (which is also known as glacial till) that was left behind when an ice sheet that covered the North of the United Kingdom, the area that now forms North Sea and Scandinavia had melted during the end of the latest ice age (which happened 18,000 years ago).

3. Coastal Management

   • The SMP (Shoreline Management Plan) is aiming to protect the key areas of the Holderness coast such as Bridlington, Hornsea, Withensea (protected as they spawn a lot of income for being tourist locations for seaside vacations in the UK), B1241 (an important road that connects most of these coastal towns and cities) and the gas plant in Easington (needed as it produces 20% of the UK's gas)

4. Spurn Head

   • Spurn Head is a spit that has formed across the Humber estuary that protects Hull and other towns from storm waves and flooding and its effects. It is used as a temporary store for sediment. It is made of sediment that came south due to longshore drift that is caused due to North-Eastern prevailing winds from the North Sea. It was formed 80,000 years ago during the start of the Holocene inter-glacial period.

5. The North Sea

   • The Sea sea formed as a result of eustatic change that occurred during the Holocene period.During the latest ice age, sea levels were a lot lower due to more of Earth's water stores were in the cryosphere. Since then, temperatures have greatly risen over the 10,000 years between then and now because of natural changes, a lot of the ice has melted that caused the sea levels to rise.

6. Erosion

   • The Holderness Coast is known for being Europe's fastest eroding coastline even though rates of erosion do greatly vary. Cliffs have retreated from 3km to 5km since the Ancient Roman Era. Rates of erosion are from 1m to 10m a year depending on where you are on the Holderness Coast. The sediment that has been eroded plays an important role as an inuit into the coastal system.