This is a predicted 16 mark essay for OCR A-level Geography that was awarded 16/16 by my teacher. The interrelationship of landforms in a low energy coastal environment has already come up in 2020 so there is a possibility for the same question in regards to a high energy coastal environment may c...
Assess the extent to which landforms within a high energy coastal
environment are interrelated using a case study.
There are a number of interrelationships between landforms in the high energy coastal landscape
stretching from Saltburn to Flamborough Head on the east coast of Yorkshire in Northeast
England.
Due to its discordant nature, headlands and bays as well as their associated landforms can be
found along this stretch of coastline. The northeast wind and 1500km fetch over the North Sea
generate year-round destructive waves that result in the erosion of the more resistant rock by
hydraulic action and abrasion at a rate of 0.1m per year, creating headlands such as Nesspoint
and Ravenscar The shape of the headlands distorts the shape of the coastline thus interfering
with incoming waves causing them to refract. This concentrates the waves energy on the
protruding headland resulting in further erosion. At the same time, the concentration of energy on
the headland means that energy is dissipated in the bays either side of the headland. The minimal
energy in the bay means that erosion does not take place but instead the material eroded from the
headland is deposited to form beaches such as at Filey Bay. Caves, arches, stacks and stumps
are further landforms that are interrelated with headlands. The formation of the landforms follows
a sequence over time; wave-cut notches are eroded when wave refraction concentrates energy
on the sides of headlands to form caves, if two caves are aligned and are continually eroded they
eventually form a arch, eventually the roof of the arch collapses as a result of erosion and
weathering, this then eventually collapses to form a stack which then collapses to form a stump.
Due to the sequential nature of these landforms, one cannot be formed without the formation of
the other. This illustrates the interrelationship between landforms associated with headlands and
bays in the high energy coastal environment between Saltburn and Flamborough Head.
Another example of interrelated landforms along this stretch of coastline are shore platforms and
cli s. The high energy destructive waves found between Saltburn and Flamborough Head erode
the resistant rock forming wave-cut notches. These wave-cut notches leave the rock above
unsupported resulting in its collapse and hence formation of cli s, which along this stretch of
coastline are typically 20-30m high. The continuation of this series of events over time creates a
shore platform such as the one found at Robin Hood’s Bay. Once a shore platform has been
created, the two landforms are no longer interrelated as processes act on them separately. For
example, the chemical weathering that takes place as a result of CO2 released by algae on shore
platforms happens independently of the cli s. The extent of the interrelationship of cli s and
shore platforms is largely dependent on time. Initially they are interrelated to a large extent but
once the shore platform is formed they become interrelated to a much lesser extent and instead
become more independent. However, once the shore platform reaches 500m the water passing
over them is always shallow resulting in small waves that break on the platform, not the cli base,
preventing undercutting and hence limiting the size of the shore platform. Over time, the shore
platform is gradually eroded and the cli s and shore platform once again become interrelated
(negative feedback).
To conclude, there is strong interrelationship between landforms in a high energy coastal
environment as illustrated by stretch of coast between Saltburn and Flamborough Head, although
the extent to which landforms are interrelated does vary in some cases over time. Furthermore the
scale of this interrelationship can be limited to a certain geology such as the resistant sandstone
found in the stretch of coastline between Saltburn and Flamborough Head.
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