The Coastal Zone - Model Answer

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  • Created by: Sam
  • Created on: 30-05-13 15:39
  1. Explain how a sand spit is formed. [Higher 6 marks]

 

Answer: Spits are long ridges of sand and shingle with one end attached to the land and the other ending in the open sea. For example – Spurn Head on the Yorkshire coast. A spit will form when sand and shingle are carried along a coast by longshore drift. This is when waves approach a beach at an oblique angle, break and transport material up the beach but the backwash returns to sea at a right angle to the coast. Material is therefore gradually transported along the beach in the direction of the dominant wind. If there is a bay or a bend in the coastline, deposition of sand and shingle will continue to be deposited away from the coast in the open sea. This will build up in time to form a long ridge, a spit; sometimes winds and currents may curve the spit.

 

2.    Using one or more examples, describe the human responses to coastal erosion. [6 marks]

 

Answer: There are two main approaches to coastal erosion, hard and

Comments

Mr A Gibson

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6 mark questions require specific "triggers" to move from level one, through two to three. It doesn't matter how much you know, it matters how you say it and these examples are good for you to look at and unpick to see what the examiner is looking for.