When was the holderness coast formed

The Holderness Coast is located on the east coast of England. It extends 61km from Flamborough in the north to Spurn Point in the south. This is around 2 million tonnes of material every year. These are shown on the map below.

Underlying the Holderness Coast is bedrock made up of Cretaceous Chalk. However, in most places, this is covered by glacial till deposited over 18, years ago. It is this soft boulder clay that is being rapidly eroded. There are two main reasons why this area of coast is eroding so rapidly.

The first is the result of the strong prevailing winds creating longshore drift that moves material south along the coastline. There are several reasons why the coast at Holderness is eroding so quickly: Rock type - the cliffs are made from less-resistant boulder clay made from sands and clays which slumps when wet.

Naturally narrow beaches - these beaches give less protection to the coast as it doesn't reduce the power of the waves. Man-made structures - groynes have been installed to stop long-shore drift. This narrows unprotected beaches elsewhere even more. Powerful waves - waves at Holderness travel long distances over the North Sea so have a long fetch which means they will increase in energy.

The problem is caused by: strong prevailing winds creating longshore drift that moves material south along the coastline the cliffs which are made of a soft boulder clay, and will therefore erode quickly, especially when saturated. Steps taken to protect the village of Mappleton In , the decision was taken to protect Mappleton. Mappleton and the cliffs are no longer at great risk from erosion. Chalk surrounds the boulder clay. This is a much stronger rock but has eroded along fault lines and bedding planes forming structures like cliffs, caves, arches and stacks.

This is how far the waves have travelled. Holderness is exposed to wind and waves from the north-east, with a fetch of to km across the North Sea. This is not that far and would normally cause large waves but other factors increase their size:.

This causes powerful destructive waves.