The data was supplemented to 12 sites by secondary data which was collected the same week by another group.
This map shows widely managed and unmanaged sections of Walton on the Naze.
Long Shore Drift
The wave angle is determined by wind direction. The oblique wave angle creates a nearshore current known as longshore or littoral drift which is capable of moving large quantities of material in a down-drift direction. On many coasts, for example in the coast of Walton on the Naze (Essex) the maximum fetch and prevailing wind are both from the south-west, there is predominantly eastward movement of beach material.
However brief changes in wind and therefore wave can cause the movement of material to be reversed.
When the wave breaks, the swash carries material up the beach at the same angle as that at which the wave approached the shore. As the swash dies away the back wash and any material carried by it returns straight down the beach. Also that is why near the shore there are stones, pebbles and the there is an evidence for this which is photo 1.1 The outcome is that material is slowly moved along the beach in a zigzag course. The effect of longshore drift or LSD can be best seen where groynes have been built to prevent this material from being moved along the beach and so there is a build up of sand on one side of the groynes in each case. There are many examples of this in Walton-on-the-Naze (see photos).
The Essex Shoreline Scale: 1:25000 Local Map
This map shows Essex management shoreline and Walton and Clacton are included in this map. Also this map shows the shapes of coasts also it left map shows motorways on how to access Walton from M25 route and etc.
South East England Scale- 1:50000 Regional Map
This is the view of South East England. This is regional map and its scale is 1:50000. The function of this map to my coursework is that it shows all the towns of Essex and places around which shows the shape of sea against the South East England.
Fieldwork Objective:
- Choose 12 sites along the beach at 50 metre intervals.
Primary Data
The primary data collection techniques got used in this coast investigation are that group of 4 people started the investigation with equipments such as Terracoter tube, mallet, stopwatch, 2 1 metre wooden ruler, bucket, sieve, add & weigh scale, 1000 gram plastic plate, Small spade, 1 metre long spirit leveller and 1 metre long metal sticks along 20 metre of transect then first 20 metre line got placed on sand with some stones on it so wind don’t blow it. After that the group started to record data for investigating beach characteristics. 3 People were measuring beach height because 1 person had to hold 2 sticks, 1 person had to hold spirit leveller and 1 person had to measure the difference by ruler and finally the 4th person had to record data on sheet of paper.
After finishing with beach height, our group started to measure percolation rate and sediment size. 2 people needed for each activity.
Investigation got carried on in 2 different sites of Walton coast and it was January month also each activity took 10 minutes to be completed. It was easy and straight forward.
The sampling strategy which got used is line sampling where all data taken from one line of 20 metre transect. 20 metre distance because from 20 metre of distance clear and accurate result giving data is possible and it took less time. There was no point to make sample bigger than 20 metre because it was going to be waste of time. Sample size was 20 metre and this sample size was enough to generate accurate and reliable data.
This also links to methodology and by the help of this above text and methodology anybody wanting to carry this investigation can easily do it.
Secondary Data
Data provided a lot of information especially enabled more accurate statistical tests to be done as there were 12 sets of data and specifically data was providing us with back up like evidence and prove for ideas which were very interesting.
Secondary data basically is comparing two sets of data the good old kept with current one and the limitation are that the data recorded in same week but not same day January 14th also good kept data of course has been done by different students.
Websites used are: for maps, pictures
for maps
Geography ‘An integrated approach’ book by David Waugh also used as a reference for some theory.
Section 3: Data Representation and Analysis & Explanation
Spearman’s Rank Correlation:
Step 1: The Null Hypothesis
‘There will be no significant relationship between beach height and sediment size.’
Step 2: Scatter Graph
The reasons why in calculation the result is positive digit and bigger than critical value is because it is just a calculation by Spearman’s rank way and I am not comparing managed to unmanaged section in my coursework.
The way and the above graph’s x dots show the managed side and unmanaged side clearly also from 0 to 6 mm/m are mainly unmanaged section’s dots but from 6 to 12 mm/m are mainly managed section’s dots.
The graph shows as beach height increases the sediment size increase which is what expected because while recording data this was noticeable.
Step 3: Spearman’s rank (rs) table
rs = Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient
d = difference between the rank values of the samples
n = the number of paired data samples
6∑ d2
rs =1- [ ] = 1 - [ 492 ] = 1 - 0.287 = 0.713
(n3 – n)
1716
rs = 0.713 (to 3.s.f) + correlation
95% = confidence level
P = 0.05 significance level
Step 4: Testing Significance
rs = 0.713 > critical value = 0.5874
Reject the null hypothesis. There is a significant positive relationship between the mean beach height and sediment size.
Spearman’s Rank Correlation 2:
Step 1: The Null Hypothesis
‘There will be no significant relationship between as sediment size increases percolation rates increase.’
Step 2: Scatter Graph
Anomaly is irregular or inconsistent result which usually in this type of investigation happen due to human error where data recorded doesn’t record data accurately.
All Walton on the Naze coast is a shingle beach but there are sandy beach areas in Frinton. The shingle beaches like Walton have a steeper gradient than a sandy beaches is due mainly to differences in percolation rates resulting from differences in particle size. For example water will pass through coarse-grained shingle more quickly than through fine-grained sand. My evidences results, graphs and et cetera showed that it is the real fact that water passes through shingle faster where as you pour water it just go down.
Step 3: Spearman’s rank (rs) table
rs = Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient
d = difference between the rank values of the samples
n = the number of paired data samples
6∑ d2
rs =1- [ ] = 1 - [ 552 ] = 1 – 0.322 = 0.678
(n3 – n)
1716
rs = 0.678 (to 3.s.f) + correlation
95% = confidence level
P = 0.05 significance level
Step 4: Testing Significance
rs = 0.678 > critical value = 0.5874
Reject the null hypothesis. There is a significant positive relationship between the mean sediment size and percolation rates.
Step 1: The Null Hypothesis
‘There will be significant relationships between percolation rates and beach height.’
Step 2: Scatter Graph
Largest shingles in Walton and in most shingle beaches are 30-40 metre away from the shore and the graph shows there is a positive relationship between percolation rates and beach height also it show that as you go away from the sea the mm of water in 1 minute increases. For example 16mm/minute in beach height of 1800mm/m
Figure 2.1
Step 3: Spearman’s rank (rs) table
6∑ d2
rs =1- [ ] = 1 - [ 540 ] = 1 – 0.315 = 0.685
(n3 – n)
1716
rs = 0.664 (to 3.s.f) + correlation
95% = confidence level
P = 0.05 significance level
Step 4: Testing Significance
rs = 0.664 > critical value = 0.5874
Reject the null hypothesis. There is a significant positive relationship between the mean percolation rates and beach height.
Coastline of Walton on the Naze
Photo1.2
This photo shows the structure of roads and the landscape along the shore in Walton on the Naze. The outlook of positioned sea defences and surrounding beach. This photo also shows how sea defences get build along the shore; how far are houses away from beach and etc…
Photo1.3
The cliffs near Naze Tower Photo1.4
Risk of falling cliffs is very high and this area’s erosion happening so fast due to different environmental and human impact.
Seaside Photo1.5
Sea walls have been built to stop the sea flooding inland. The waves attack the base of the cliff each high tide, especially during storms. The waves carry pebbles of differing sizes up and down the beach. When the pebbles hit the base of the cliff they break up the clay making cracks appear in the clay. The photos show the reality of problems in Walton and say something in common.
Wave zones and beach morphology diagram – Figure 2.2
Walton on the Naze coast’s view is same as this diagram’s view and everything on the diagram shown are same as in Walton coast.
Section 4: Evaluation and Conclusion
Overall findings show that not 2 out of 3 my hypothesis got positive correlation shown on scatter graph. Scatter graph 1 shows that there is negative correlation but it’s a bit not realistic because the result is bigger than critical value. 3 Hypothesis were enough to produce a good set of coursework and that is why this coursework is based around three hypotheses.
Aim was ‘To investigate changes in beach characteristics with increasing distance along the shore, Walton on the Naze, Essex’ and this completed whereas sediment size, percolation rates and beach height has been investigated properly with distance along the shore of Walton. The human error in this particular investigation is minimised to zero probably because the result is the key of investigation.
The results recorded and analysed does fit in with my theoretical knowledge except first hypothesis because there is negative correlation between sediment size and beach height, positive correlation between sediment size and percolation rates plus a significant positive relationships between percolation rates and beach height.
To investigate real, pure correct result about sediment size and beach height instead of
2 sites as our group investigated 4 sites got to be investigated to see exactly if beach height really makes difference on sediment size.
Overall findings are:
rs = 0.713 > critical value = 0.5874
Reject the null hypothesis. There is a significant positive relationship between the mean beach height and sediment size.
rs = 0.678 > critical value = 0.5874
Reject the null hypothesis. There is a significant positive relationship between the mean sediment size and percolation rates.
rs = 0.664 > critical value = 0.5874
Reject the null hypothesis. There is a significant positive relationship between the mean percolation rates and beach height.
During the coastal investigation, it is known that each variable got its own limitations and the main ones for each variable are:
Percolation Rate --- Time of year because if the land is wet then time for water to percolate will be more than if the soil is dry.
Sediment Size --- Human error because after separating the pebbles from sand, weight reading and weight exchange can make confusion and mistakes on numbers which can result unreliable data.
Beach height --- Landscape shape because shape of land really matters for e.g. anomalies where first 5 metre beach height is 7 mm/m then second place is 15 mm/m then its 5 mm/m so this means landscape shape plays big role in readings or results.
The sample size 20 metre transect was enough to prove accurate data but sampling strategy of 2 sites wasn’t good enough because results of 2 sites compared to another 2 sites along the shore can be a lot better than comparing one site to another. This will allow human errors to spot easily as well.
The methods for 3 beach characteristics were well thought and there were nothing needed to make changes to improve methods which are because these methods have been already updated for us to allow us to record accurate set of data.
The improvements could be measuring beach characteristics not just in winter but also in summer and make 4 sites to be examined which can have huge impact on final result’s accuracy.