GCSE Geography Casestudies

Barton on sea is prone to mass movement, because...

• GEOLOGY- the layers of rock are permeable and therefore allow water to seep down, causing sand to become heavy, which then weighs down on the clay below causing friction and eventually rotational slip. This causes the cliff to retreat over time.
• LOCATION- barton on sea is not protected by a beach and therefore is easily eroded by the sea. There is no beach as the introduction of a pier further up the coast has interferred with longshore drift.

The Holderness Coast is currently retreating at 1.8m per year.

REASONS WHY

• the clay in which the cliffs are made from is easily eroded
• narrow beaches offer no protection from waves to the coast
• faces in the direction of the prevailing wind- means it is heavily exposed to large waves/storms

IMPACTS

• loss of homes
• gas terminal at easington may be lost (supplies 25% of UK power)
• 80,000m2 of farmland lost each year

• sea walls have been introduced in Hornsea to protect the coast
• groynes have been introduced in Mappleton- however this has disrupted the process of longshore drift which means although a beach builds up here, sediment is not transported down the coast causing it to be easily eroded.
• rock armour protects Humber estuary

Studland Bay is a popular nature reserve which attracts tourists

Sand dunes provide a habitat for grass snakes, warblers and marram grass, whilst the coastline here is home to seahorses.

The coast has been damaged by human activities.

STRATEGIES

• boats are prevented from mooring as their anchors damage seagrass- the habitat for seahorses
• BBQ's restricted due to fire hazard/litter
• wardens put in place to monitor human activity
• fences put up to keep people off the sand dunes
• information signs to highlight importance of conservation to public.

The Maldives are prone to flooding due to rising sea levels as they are only 1.5m above sea level. Scientists expect that they will disappear completely in 50-100 years.

IMPACTS

• communities made homeless
• land poluted with salt water making farming impossible- destroyed livilhoods
• loss of tourism due to loss of beaches
• fishing industry lost affecting local economy

STRATEGIES

• it is impossible to prevent the islands from being lost completely so governments are making plans for the local population to be evacuated to nearby India and Australia.

Coastal Defence Strategies have been put in place in order to monitor the changing coastline and suggest new defence strategies.

• reduced boat moorings in order to prevent further erosion of the harbour
• sea walls to protect villages- however these reduce beaches and alter natural migration of salt marshes

Keyhaven marshes are eroding at around 3m per year due to...

• sea level rise
• dieback of vegetation
• lack of sediment being deposited on the coast

FORMATION

• collision of the African and European plates

USES

• Farming- steep uplands used for rearing goats because they are adapted to living on steep slopes and soil is too unfertile for crops.
• HEP (Hydro-electric Power)- damming of narrow valleys in order to generate power for local supply and export
• Tourism- 100million tourists visit each year, 70% attracted to winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding- has led to building of holiday chalets and ski lifts.
• Mining- sal/iron/copper have been previously mined from the Alps
• Forestry- logging of Scots pine for furniture production

CAUSES

• situated on destructive plate boundary where the Atlantic plate is subducting underneath the Carribean plate

IMPACTS

• capital of Plymouth buried under ash
• 2/3 homes destroyed by pyroclastic flows
• 19 people killed
• farmland destroyed

RESPONSES

• people evacuated to North of island
• £17million aid from UK
• exclusion zones set up

CAUSES

• situated on Pacific Ring of Fire- destructive plate boundary, Juan de Fuca plate subducting underneath North american plate

IMPACTS

• 57 people died
• 250 square miles land destroyed
• channel of the Toutle River blocked- causing flooding

RESPONSES

• clearing of ash from river
• rebuilding homes
• sustained exclusion zone to prevent tourists from becoming endangered

CAUSES

• destructive plate boundary, earthquake off the coast of Sumatra measuring 9.1 on Richter scale

IMPACTS

• 230,00 killed
• 1.7 million made homeless
• loss of fishing/tourism/farming industries
• waves up to 30m high flattened most buildings

RESPONSES

• foreign aid/charity workers sent in
• recovering/burying of dead to prevent disease outbreaks
• installation of Tsunami warning systems/ disaster management plans

• magnitude 6.3
• epicentre 10km south east of Christchurch

IMPACTS

• 166 killed
• language college collapsed
• cathedral spire collapsed
• hospital damaged

RESPONSES

• patients moved to other hospitals
• search and rescue of survivors
• providing aid/shelter
• rebuilding

• 7.9 magnitude
• epicentre Yingxin

IMPACTS

• 8500 killed
• collapsed school
• telephone linescut out
• landslides flattened villages

RESPONSES

• emergency phone lines set up
• unstable land blcoked off
• search and resuce attempts made but failed due to isolate villages
• rebuilding

TOURISM

• tors and moorland are attractions
• creates- 3000 jobs, £120 million for local economy
• leads to... congestion of roads, damaged verges due to parking

USES

• land is used for livestock farming as it is too boggy for crops
• impermeable rock ideal for formation of reservoirs

TOURISM

• attracted to escarpments and vales

USES

• quarries- 438,00 tonnes of rock quarried each year
• area of outstanding natural beauty
• chalk aquifer- supplies Lincolnshire with fresh water

TOURISM

• attracted to limestone pavements/ gorges/caverns
• Thor's Cave- popular with climbers/cavers

USES

• land used for livestock rearing as land is mostly unfertile so not suitable for crops
• Tunstead Quarry- 5.5million tonnes of rock per year

ADVANTAGES

• SOCIAL- provides study centre for schools/ donated stone for local projects
• ECONOMIC- employs 100 people full time

DISADVANATGES

• SOCIAL- man killed in industrial accident
• ENVIRONMENTAL- blasting affects wildlife due to noise/ destroyed large area of habitat (1.5 by 0.6 km)
• ECONOMIC- reduces tourism due to noise/visual pollution

The quarry covered 65 hectares and after it was close down sustainable strategies were introduced to return it to the natural environment.

STRATEGIES

• 14% of habitat restored so far
• creation of wetland habitat attracts new wildlife
• Grizzled Skipper Butterfly has returned
• farming controls growth of vegetation
• tourism has been reintroduced