Physical Landscapes in the UK: Coastal Landscapes — AQA GCSE Geography
Coastlines are shaped by waves, weathering and mass movement, producing distinctive landforms that need careful management.
Waves and processes
- Constructive waves build up beaches (strong swash, weak backwash).
- Destructive waves erode coastlines (weak swash, strong backwash).
Weathering (mechanical, chemical, biological) and mass movement (sliding, slumping, rockfall) weaken the coast. Coastal processes are:
- Erosion — hydraulic power, abrasion and attrition.
- Transport — longshore drift moves sediment along the coast in a zig-zag.
- Deposition — material is dropped when waves lose energy.
Landforms
Erosional landforms: headlands and bays (on discordant coastlines), caves → arches → stacks → stumps, wave-cut platforms and cliffs. Depositional landforms: beaches, spits, bars and sand dunes. You should be able to explain how each forms with reference to processes, and identify them on maps and photographs.
Coastal management
Coastal areas are managed to protect people and property from erosion and flooding:
- Hard engineering — sea walls, rock armour (rip-rap), gabions, groynes. Effective but expensive and can look unnatural or cause problems elsewhere.
- Soft engineering — beach nourishment and reprofiling, dune regeneration. More natural and cheaper but needs maintenance.
- Managed retreat (coastal realignment) — allowing the land to flood/erode in a controlled way, creating salt marshes.
A case study of a coastal management scheme should show the reasons for management, the strategy used and the resulting conflicts and effects.
Exam tips
- Distinguish constructive and destructive waves and their effects.
- Learn the sequence cave → arch → stack → stump and how longshore drift forms spits.
- Compare hard vs soft engineering (cost, effectiveness, appearance, knock-on effects).
- Use a named case study of a coastal management scheme.