Coastal Landforms and Management
Coastlines create amazing natural sculptures through erosion and deposition. Discordant coastlines have alternating hard and soft rock bands running perpendicular to the shore, creating headlands and bays. The soft rock erodes faster into bays whilst resistant rock forms jutting headlands.
Headland erosion follows a predictable sequence: cracks become caves, caves become arches, arches collapse into isolated stacks. Meanwhile, wave-cut platforms form as cliffs retreat, leaving flat rocky shelves exposed at low tide.
Spits form where longshore drift deposits sediment past bends in the coastline. Strong winds curve their ends, and the sheltered areas behind often develop into salt marshes. When spits connect two headlands, they create bars with lagoons behind them.
Remember: Coastal defences aren't just about concrete walls - nature-based solutions often work better!
Coastal management uses hard engineering (sea walls, rock armour, groynes) and soft engineering (beach nourishment, dune regeneration, managed retreat). Hard defences are expensive and can create problems elsewhere, whilst soft approaches work with natural processes. Managed retreat might sound like giving up, but allowing some flooding creates valuable saltmarsh habitats that protect areas further inland.