Follow up to North Norfolk Fieldwork.

Essay assignment-Follow up to North Norfolk Fieldwork

Introduction

The area of North Norfolk that I shall be studying stretches from Hunstanton in the west to Weybourne in the east, a stretch of coastline over thirty miles long. Within this relatively short stretch of coastline are a great variety of coastal landforms. It is a coastline of contrasts. In the four areas I studied the cliffs are in retreat, often at a rate of several feet a year. I will examine the processes at work on the cliffs, both coastal and sub-aerial, as well as the ways in which geology interacts with these processes.

At Weybourne Hope the boulder clay cliffs are intensely eroded. While at Blakeney Point the coast changes to on in which deposition dominates. This spit has a profound affect on the area between it and the old coastline. In this zone there is a great variety of marsh scenery both natural and man-made. At Wells there is a good example of how the marshes have been partially reclaimed and the land defended from wave attack. While at Hunstanton the contrast is especially great due to the distinct geology of the area.

Weybourne Hope

At Weybourne Hope there is a very good example of a coastline, which is rapidly eroding. The cliff is made up of loose glacial material, from a period called the Pleistocene period. This unsorted boulder clay contains flint and is even more friable than the cliffs at Hunstanton.

The cliffs are about nine meters high, there is weathering by the wind and rain creating little tunnels through the rock and biological factors like animals digging burrows. These factors all loosen the cliff and make it unstable. When I visited Weybourne Hope the waves showed the characteristics of being constructive waves, they where long flat waves, they broke near the shore and the wavelength was very long. At this point along the coastline the waves usually would have a lot of energy because they have a very large fetch, a large fetch means more energy, which would increase the wave strength. The beach was quite steep with six berms along the narrow beach; the beach was of the shingle variety. The berms where placed in this order, four paces from the sea, three paces, four paces, one pace, five paces, six paces then another six to get to the base of the cliff.

Blakeney point

Unlike Scolt Head Island further to the west, which is an off shore bar, Blakeney Point is a spit as it is tied to the line of the cliffs. The spit begins at Weybourne and continues eastward along the Norfolk coast. From Weybourne to Far Point the spit is 15.5 kilometres long and is composed of a shingle bank, which is about 200 meters in width and nine to ten metres in height. It has a distinct main ridge with a number of recurved laterals. Sand dunes (Psammosere ecosystems) have built up on the shingle ridge near ...

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Blakeney point

There is not an exact answer on Blakeneys formation; it is possible that the spit began life as an off shore bar like Scolt Head Island. It is thought to make up of glacial material from the ice age. This moving bar then attached to the coast at Weybourne Hope. Today the shingle ridge continues to move towards the land and is slowly overwhelming the marshland as it pushes it closer to the land. Long shore drift has played a part but it is agreed that dominant northeast winds have moved the material along the coast. The shingle is coarser at the eastern end compared with the material further down. This occurs because as the material is being moved attrition can occur this means the particles can rub together and break apart also the waves would be able to carry smaller particles further because they take less energy to move.

Marshland has built up in the sheltered low energy zones. It is obvious that the two main plants that do well in this area are spartina and salicornia. Sand dunes have classic examples of plant succession occurring on them. Towards the sea there are embryo dunes, which are tiny dunes that have been made by the wind depositing sand in sheltered areas such as behind driftwood. These then build up into the main ridge otherwise known as yellow dunes. These dunes tend to have a high percentage cover of vegetation because there more sheltered and the roots of the plants can have a wide area to spread around. Next are the grey dunes, these dunes having a diverse number of species; this is because the sand is slowly turning into soil because when the pioneer species die they put nutrients and minerals into the soil, this is called humus. Also the land is very sheltered by the main yellow dune enabling less xerophytic plants to survive there. One of the pioneer species is Marram grass this has adapted well to the harsh conditions, the grass has a thin low surface area to reflect the heat meaning less moisture lost and the roots of the plant spread out very far so the plant can be anchored in place. The combination of sand dunes and Marram grass is very effective as a sea protection because it absorbs the energy of the waves well.

Wells next to the sea

This part of North Norfolk may be divided into two contrasting sections. The area west of Wells harbour has been reclaimed and is in the form of rectangular fields, the area to the east remains in its natural state which is marsh land. In 1719 an embankment was built to protect the town, today it is called the old sea wall. In 1858 another sea wall was built between Wells and Wells Beach to stop the sea from entering the west marshes and providing 238 hectares of agricultural land. The coastline at Wells is a shingle ridge covered with sand dunes and planted with Marram grass and Scots Pine. In 1953 the sea wall was breached, reclaimed land was flooded and only the pine trees on the dunes survived. Another breach occurred in 1978, which lead to walls being rebuilt, the sand dune bank being raised and extra defences being built along the quay. Wells still has cargo ships coming in and out but is kept in operation by a constant dredging of an artificial channel. It is one of the ports that have survived others like Blakeney, Stiftkey and Glandford were thriving in the 14th century but have silted up. Today tourism is the main source of income in this town.

On the beach at Wells the beach huts are on stilts to protect themselves against flooding. Sand dunes have built up over a shingl ridge the Marram grass and the pine trees act as a defence and a place the wind can deposit material. Long shore drift is moving the material west. This beach is open and exposed the waves are destructive even though the fetch is relatively small because it starts at the other side of the wash.

Hunstanton

Hunstanton is a small purpose built town next to the sea it is established on the west coast of Norfolk, facing the wash. North of the town, beyond the more tourist side of the town are the unique Hunstanton cliffs made up of different types of material. The cliffs are quite high approximately fifteen meters. The beach is gentle sloping but wide and with a very small fetch. There are three types of rock in the Hunstanton cliffs, the bottom layer is Carstone the middle layer is Hunstanton red rock and the top layer is Chalk strata. There is a wave cut platform present at Hunstanton. The fetch and exposure are small then the area at Weybourne because of the wash, which means the waves, would have less power that means less erousion. As you walk back towards the town there is a sea wall, this is a very expensive sea defence but works well.

Conclusion

All these areas are effected differently, the cliffs at Hunstanton are different of those at Weybourne because of factors like the size of the fetch and geology of the area. Blakeney Pointis different from the other coastlines because of the deposition features. Wells shows how land can be reclaimed and how “soft” sea defences can be used.