Factors Responsible for Landforms of Coastal Erosion
Saji Begum
With reference to one or more located coastlines, examine the factors responsible for landforms of coastal erosion. (25 marker)
Most of our landforms on the coastline are formed because of coastal erosion. But firstly it is essential to understand what coastal erosions are. Coastal erosion involves the breaking down and removal of material along a coastline by the movement of wind & water. They are sorted in two categories, Marine processes and Sub aerial processes. A few methods of erosion are; Abrasion, hydraulic action, Attrition and so on. These erosions leads to the formation of many landforms such as; V shaped valleys, waterfalls etc. and also combined with deposition which plays an important role in shaping the coastline. However, there are many factors that affect the rate of erosion, a few of the many factors would be: Geology and lithology, Strength of waves etc. Throughout this essay, I will be examining with examples of a few real life coastlines, and explain about all the factors that have an impact on the rate of coastal erosion which most of the time results in the creation of landforms.
Lithology refers to the physical properties of a rock such as its resistance to erosion and affects the rate of coastal erosion. Rock type is a factor that has great impacts on the formation of landforms of coastal erosion because rocks with different structures are affected differently by coastal erosion. Some rock types such as clay have weak lithology with little resistance to erosion, whereas others are highly resistant and more likely to form prominent coastal features. Therefore, Granite, which is a strong rock and resistant to weathering & erosion, and if a coastline is made of granite (e.g. Land’s End) will change slowly. Soft rocks e.g. Limestone are more susceptible to weathering & erosion so a coastline made of chalk will change relatively quickly. An example of this is Durdle Door in Dorset. The headland along this coastline is made of chalk,
With reference to one or more located coastlines, examine the factors responsible for landforms of coastal erosion. (25 marker)
Most of our landforms on the coastline are formed because of coastal erosion. But firstly it is essential to understand what coastal erosions are. Coastal erosion involves the breaking down and removal of material along a coastline by the movement of wind & water. They are sorted in two categories, Marine processes and Sub aerial processes. A few methods of erosion are; Abrasion, hydraulic action, Attrition and so on. These erosions leads to the formation of many landforms such as; V shaped valleys, waterfalls etc. and also combined with deposition which plays an important role in shaping the coastline. However, there are many factors that affect the rate of erosion, a few of the many factors would be: Geology and lithology, Strength of waves etc. Throughout this essay, I will be examining with examples of a few real life coastlines, and explain about all the factors that have an impact on the rate of coastal erosion which most of the time results in the creation of landforms.
Lithology refers to the physical properties of a rock such as its resistance to erosion and affects the rate of coastal erosion. Rock type is a factor that has great impacts on the formation of landforms of coastal erosion because rocks with different structures are affected differently by coastal erosion. Some rock types such as clay have weak lithology with little resistance to erosion, whereas others are highly resistant and more likely to form prominent coastal features. Therefore, Granite, which is a strong rock and resistant to weathering & erosion, and if a coastline is made of granite (e.g. Land’s End) will change slowly. Soft rocks e.g. Limestone are more susceptible to weathering & erosion so a coastline made of chalk will change relatively quickly. An example of this is Durdle Door in Dorset. The headland along this coastline is made of chalk,