Introduction to the Investigation
The purpose of this investigation is to test the following research question:
“What management is there at Freshwater Bay and how effective is it?”
Fundamentally this means that I am going to study the area of Freshwater Bay then test and examine what positive or negative effects the management has on the area.
My research and findings are going to test the question to find an answer. In order for me to answer this question I am going to break it down into two main sections:
- In what way does management of the bay change it from east to west?
In this study I am going to examine how the management schemes are effecting the beach, and in what ways it its doing this.
- What is the main land use behind the bay and how is management protecting it?
In this study I am going to examine the land use at Freshwater Bay and see what the management is being used to protect.
Location
Location of the area:
The Isle of Wight is and island 380km², and is situated off the southern coast of England in the English Channel. The island itself is represented as one of the counties of England and has a population of 111,300 people.
Freshwater Bay is situated on the South East coast of the Isle of Wight. The A3055 is the main road that runs along the west cliff top and down through the Freshwater area.
Methodology
The information that I require for my investigation is shown in the tables I1 and I2 below.
For my first section I am going to use collection techniques such as:
- Photographic evidence
- Field Sketches
- Quadrat sampling
- Transect mapping
- Cliff recession mapping
These techniques are simple to perform and give clear evidence in answering specific questions.
For my second section I am going to use collection techniques such as:
- Photographic evidence
- Field sketches
- Land use mapping
These too are simple to perform and effective in giving clear evidence in answering specific questions.
I have also done some additional research in the forms of:
- Geology mapping
- Wind rose diagrams
- Wave count
These methods allow me to make conclusions by referring to actual evidence.
To start my survey I had chosen six sites, (shown in MP4), evenly spaced across the bay. The bay seems to be divided up by sea walls, groynes and rip-rap on one side of the bay and on the other side there is no evidence of management. This is why I took three samples from both sides of the bay.
Sampling Regime for Data Collection
I have chosen the following sampling regimes:
Pantometer
- Place pantometer exactly at sea wall/cliff face
- Measure 1m up to water front
- Measure angle every meter
- Plot collected data on graph
Quadrat
- Place every 5 meter mark
- Sample 10 sediment particles randomly
- Measure length, width and height
- Average all three for each particle and then for collection of particles
- Plot collected data on graph
Methodology Tables
