Landforms

These are different at every coast because wind and wave patterns as well as geology is different at every coast.

Landforms of erosion

• Headlands and bays- these are formed when destructive waves around the discordant coastline made out alternating bands and resistant and less resistant rock which lie perpendicular to the coastline. The waves on the road the less resistant rock are faster rate than the consolidated rock. With us after many cycles, a bay would be created from the unconsolidated rock in between protruding headlands made out of resistor rock. The bay area would become a sheltered environment due to wave refraction where wave energy is concentrated onto the base of the headland . Assuming a suitable settlement source like a river within the bay, the bay will have a beach which follows the outline of the bay. This bay will become valuable land due to its low energy environment and the opportunity for housing recreational activities.
• Wave cut platforms- these are formed when waves around the joint located within the cliff face itself in the intertidal zone . Continuous erosion will cause the joint to deepen and widen until it becomes a wave cut notch other erosion will cause the notch to deepen into the cliff face, which reduces the structural integrity of the above cliff face, which will eventually break off and be washed away. This will leave behind a platform which will be visible at low tide and at high tide which deposit sediment via suspension , are thus becoming a landform of emergence.
• Caves, Archers, stacks and stumps – this is when the change in the direction of the prevailing wind causes the waves to create a notch on the side of the headland. This erosion will deepen and widen the notch until it becomes a cave. This will have his own ecosystem like bats. Once the cave has been eroded through, will create an arch. Wave energy will be concentrated at the base of the arch , which reduced integrity for the above rock. The supported area will break off and become a stack like old Harry’s stack in Dorset. Further erosion will reduce the stack into a stump, which will be visible at low tide.

Landforms of deposition

• Beaches – these are temporary stores of sediment in the settlements open form when there are low energy environments with constructive waves. These are a natural layer of defence from wave energy and are considered to be valuable land because of its recreational opportunities like swimming and fishing. These are split into zones which include the backshore, foreshore, near shore, and offshore zones. The backshore zone is the furthest away from the beach and is where the largest boulders are found due to having no contact with the waves. Foreshore zones is the highest points where the waves could reach during high tide. Seawalls and other defences tend to be found here. Smaller and rounder pebbles are found here. Near shore zones is where runners are found which are ridges in the sound which like parallel to the coastline on a formed when the waves moved down the beach. Offshore zone is where offshore bars are found and is always submerged in the water.
• Spits – these are stretches of sand that I found in low energy environments where little drift takes place. These form when there is continued longshore drift from a sudden change in the coastline, which causes the spit to extend outwards. These can be split into simple and compound. a simple spit is defined as a spit with a single recurved end at the compound spit is one with multiple recurved ends caused by multiple changes in the prevailing wind. The area behind the spirit is a sheltered environment. A spit what connects an island is called a tombolo. A spit which connects two headlands together covering a bay is called a barrier beach.
• Offshore bars- these form when incoming constructive waves accounts are rich which dissipates the wave energy causing the settlement it was carrying to be deposited on that Ridge. repeated cycles of this will cause the ridge to accrete into a bar, which is partially submerged. This bar acts as an additional layer of defence to the beach behind it as it absorbs the wave energy. If strong enough, it can support recreational activities like boating and fishing. These are effective at reducing erosion, hence why artificial brake waters are built.
• Dunes- these are sadly defences which act as a buffer zone between the sea and the beach. These form when there is a piece of litter or driftwood which trap sediments via aeolian deposition. This obstruction will continue to trap sediment until it grows and becomes an embryo dune. Then psammosere succession will take place, which leads to zero fighting plants to grow as pioneer species like prickly salt warts. These are adapted to grow in dry conditions because they have waxy cuticles which reduces evaporate transpiration and allows the plant to retain more moisture. When these plants die and decompose, the add nutrients into the sand, which allow a more variety of plants to grow like marram grass. These plants rhizone plants where roots grow vertically, which binds the sand together increasing its structural integrity. Repeated cycles of vegetation dying and growing will eventually create a meadow which will then attract animals thus creating its own ecosystem.
• Saltmarshes – these form in sheltered environments like behind space where brackish water is found. Brackish water is water that is more salty than freshwater but less salty than sea water. This then needs to halosere succession where halophytic plants grow as pioneer species like eel grass. When these plants die and decompose, they added nutrients into the brackish water, changing its composition into a mud texture. This is accelerated by the periodic inundation that takes place where fresh saline water brings sediments which leads to flocculation. This is when sediment particles clumped together to create mud. Repeated cycles of this turns the area into a marsh area, which is a special ecosystem. The area is still saline, so halophytic plants will colonise the area, eventually attracting animals like salt-water crocodiles. An early sign of a salt marsh formation can be found behind spurn head along the Holderness coastline.