G10 · Coastal landscapes in the UK | AQA GCSE Geography

Revise the key ideas

Waves form when wind transfers energy to the sea surface. Stronger winds, longer wind duration and a longer fetch (distance over water) can produce larger waves.
Swash is water moving up a beach after a wave breaks; backwash is water returning down it. Constructive waves usually have stronger swash than backwash and build up beaches.
Destructive waves usually have stronger backwash relative to swash and tend to remove beach material. They are commonly steeper and more frequent; actual beach change also depends on sediment supply and tides.
Weathering breaks down rock in place. Mechanical weathering includes freeze–thaw where water freezes and expands in cracks; chemical weathering includes weak acids reacting with limestone.
Mass movement is rock or soil moving downhill under gravity. Rockfalls involve blocks dropping from cliffs; slides move along a relatively straight surface; slumps rotate along a curved surface.
Rain can saturate cliff material, adding weight and reducing friction. Wave erosion at the cliff foot can remove support, making slope failure more likely.

Hydraulic power is erosion by wave force and compressed air in cracks. Abrasion is rock fragments hurled against a cliff, wearing it away. Attrition is fragments colliding and becoming smaller and rounder.
Longshore drift moves sediment along the coast. Waves arriving at an angle move material diagonally up the beach in swash; backwash returns it down the slope, giving a zigzag path.
Sediment moves along the beach. Swash follows waves approaching at an angle. Backwash runs down the beach slope; net movement is to the right in this example.
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Deposition happens where waves or currents have too little energy to carry sediment. Sheltered bays and shallow water can encourage accumulation; sediment size and supply also matter.

On a discordant coast, alternating resistant and less resistant rocks meet the sea. Less resistant rock erodes faster into bays; more resistant rock remains as headlands.
Geological structure affects erosion: joints and faults are lines of weakness, while the direction of bedding can affect cliff stability. On a concordant coast, rock bands run roughly parallel to the coast.
Waves erode a notch near the cliff foot. Undercutting makes the rock above unstable, so it collapses and the cliff retreats, leaving a gently sloping wave-cut platform.
Erosion enlarges cracks in a headland into caves. A cave may cut through to form an arch; collapse of the roof leaves a stack, which can erode into a stump.
Erosion of a headland. Waves exploit weaknesses in the rock. This sequence develops over time, not during every single storm.
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Beaches are accumulations of sand or shingle. Their shape changes as waves deposit and remove material, and finer sediment usually forms gentler slopes than coarse shingle.
Sand dunes form where dry beach sand is blown inland and trapped by obstacles or vegetation. Plants such as marram grass stabilise sand, helping dunes grow.
A spit grows when longshore drift deposits sediment beyond a bend in the coastline or across part of an estuary. Changing wind or wave directions can curve the tip; sheltered water behind may support salt marsh.
A bar can form when a spit extends across a bay and joins two headlands, enclosing a lagoon. A spit across a river mouth may remain incomplete because flowing water keeps a channel open.

Hard engineering uses built structures to control coastal processes. Sea walls protect land behind them, but are expensive and can reflect wave energy, encouraging scour near their base.
Rock armour absorbs wave energy through gaps between large boulders. It needs transport and maintenance and can restrict access or change the appearance of a beach.
Gabions are wire cages filled with stones. They can be cheaper and absorb energy, but wire corrodes or breaks and damaged cages need maintenance.
Groynes trap sediment moved by longshore drift, creating a wider beach that absorbs wave energy. They can reduce sediment reaching beaches farther along the coast, increasing erosion there.
Beach nourishment adds sediment, while reprofiling reshapes the beach to absorb wave energy. These preserve a more natural appearance but may require repeated work after storms.
Dune regeneration uses fencing, planting and controlled access to stabilise dunes. It can provide habitat and protection, but needs space and may limit recreation.
Managed realignment allows the shoreline to move inland in a planned area, sometimes by breaching old defences. New salt marsh can absorb energy, but landowners may lose land and need compensation.
Management decisions consider the value of assets, costs over time, habitats, sediment movement and climate change. Protecting one place can transfer problems elsewhere, so schemes need a wider coastal view.

Dorset's coast includes resistant headlands and less resistant bays. Around Swanage, resistant chalk at Ballard Point and limestone at Durlston Head contrast with less resistant rocks in the bay, helping explain its shape.
Old Harry Rocks near Handfast Point are chalk stacks and associated erosional features. Wave erosion along weaknesses separates parts of a headland, illustrating the cave–arch–stack sequence.
Swanage and Studland have depositional beaches. At Studland, wind-blown sand has formed dunes behind the beach, linking wave deposition, wind transport and vegetation growth.
The wider Dorset coast includes Chesil Beach, a long shingle barrier enclosing the Fleet lagoon along part of its length. Do not describe every Dorset beach as sand or every barrier as a simple spit.

Swanage needs management to reduce wave damage and erosion affecting the town, seafront and visitor economy. Its developed frontage is defended, while approaches vary along less developed parts of the wider coast.
The 2005–06 scheme combined timber groynes with beach replenishment. Groynes retain drifting sediment and the wider beach helps absorb wave energy; the scheme complements existing seawalls and needs maintenance.
Residents and businesses benefit from protection, and a maintained beach supports tourism. Continuing inspections, groyne repairs and replenishment cost money, and works can temporarily affect access or beach use.
Management has to consider sediment movement and environmental effects beyond the defended frontage. Defending developed areas while other cliffs retreat can create disagreement over fairness, future costs and which assets to protect.
Treat new proposals separately from completed works. Shoreline change and rising sea level mean an existing scheme needs review rather than guaranteeing permanent protection.

50 questions · Random sets of 10. These quick checks support revision; practise longer explanations and justified judgements too.