COASTS
, ENQUIRY QUESTION 2
HOLBECK HALL, SCARBOROUGH
Holbeck Hall landslide, south of Scarborough in North Yorkshire (coast)
TYPE OF MASS MOVEMENT
Landslide= rotational landslide degrading to a mud/ debris flow which covered the rocks on the beach.
Rotational landslide involved about 1 million tonnes of glacial till cut back the 60m high cliff by 70m.
Flowed across the beach to form a semicircular promontory 200m wide projecting 135m outward from
the foot of the cliff
ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS (Prior)
➢ First signs of movement on the cliff= seen 6 weeks before the main failure, when the cracks
developed in the tarmac surface of foot paths. Were filled to stop ingress of water to the cliff
but cracks reopened shortly before the main failure = council closed the cliff paths below the
hotel
➢ Originally there was a 70m of garden between the hotel + the cliff edge. At 6am on June 4th,
a guest saw that 55m of the garden had disappeared. Hotel= evacuated + the landslide
continued to develop, culminating in the collapse of the east wing of the hotel by the evening
of June 5th
CAUSES OF THE LANDSLIDE
➔ Rainfall of 140mm in the 2 months before the landslide
➔ Issues with the drainage of the slope
➔ Pure water pressure build up in the slope
➔ Geology
ENQUIRY QUESTION 3
HOLDERNESS
Fastest eroding coastline in Europe. On average it losses nearly 2m of coastline every year
RATES OF EROSION
Erosion rates vary due to a range of physical + human factors. Reasons= geology, fetch + longshore
drift + beach material
GEOLOGY
➔ Most of the coastline consists of boulder clay. Boulder clay= also known as glacier tilt + is a
mixture of fine clays, sands + boulder deposited by glaciers after the Ice Age. Boulder clay=
structurally weak + little resistance to erosion. Produces shallow, sloping cliffs between 5 and
20 m high
➔ Chalk band that surrounds the boulder clay has created a headland at Flamborough Head.
Erosion= created cliffs, arches, stacks + stumps
FETCH
➔ Wave energy depends on the fetch. Holderness= exposed to winds + waves from the N.E.=
small fetch of about 300-800 km across the North sea
➔ Waves= influenced by:
● Currents (or swells) circular around the UK from the Atlantic Ocean into the North sea
Atlantic fetch= 5000 km= currents add energy to the waves in the North sea-
destructive waves
, ENQUIRY QUESTION 2
HOLBECK HALL, SCARBOROUGH
Holbeck Hall landslide, south of Scarborough in North Yorkshire (coast)
TYPE OF MASS MOVEMENT
Landslide= rotational landslide degrading to a mud/ debris flow which covered the rocks on the beach.
Rotational landslide involved about 1 million tonnes of glacial till cut back the 60m high cliff by 70m.
Flowed across the beach to form a semicircular promontory 200m wide projecting 135m outward from
the foot of the cliff
ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS (Prior)
➢ First signs of movement on the cliff= seen 6 weeks before the main failure, when the cracks
developed in the tarmac surface of foot paths. Were filled to stop ingress of water to the cliff
but cracks reopened shortly before the main failure = council closed the cliff paths below the
hotel
➢ Originally there was a 70m of garden between the hotel + the cliff edge. At 6am on June 4th,
a guest saw that 55m of the garden had disappeared. Hotel= evacuated + the landslide
continued to develop, culminating in the collapse of the east wing of the hotel by the evening
of June 5th
CAUSES OF THE LANDSLIDE
➔ Rainfall of 140mm in the 2 months before the landslide
➔ Issues with the drainage of the slope
➔ Pure water pressure build up in the slope
➔ Geology
ENQUIRY QUESTION 3
HOLDERNESS
Fastest eroding coastline in Europe. On average it losses nearly 2m of coastline every year
RATES OF EROSION
Erosion rates vary due to a range of physical + human factors. Reasons= geology, fetch + longshore
drift + beach material
GEOLOGY
➔ Most of the coastline consists of boulder clay. Boulder clay= also known as glacier tilt + is a
mixture of fine clays, sands + boulder deposited by glaciers after the Ice Age. Boulder clay=
structurally weak + little resistance to erosion. Produces shallow, sloping cliffs between 5 and
20 m high
➔ Chalk band that surrounds the boulder clay has created a headland at Flamborough Head.
Erosion= created cliffs, arches, stacks + stumps
FETCH
➔ Wave energy depends on the fetch. Holderness= exposed to winds + waves from the N.E.=
small fetch of about 300-800 km across the North sea
➔ Waves= influenced by:
● Currents (or swells) circular around the UK from the Atlantic Ocean into the North sea
Atlantic fetch= 5000 km= currents add energy to the waves in the North sea-
destructive waves
