This KS3 Geography quiz will ask questions about the coastal scenery. There are thousands of headlands along the UK coast, often with beaches between them. These beaches have been created where the softer rocks next to the headlands have been eroded, forming sand that has not been moved away by longshore drift. The areas between two headlands are called bays and these can be anything from a few tens of metres across to several kilometres. One of the ways that cliffs are eroded is by abrasion. Pebbles are thrown against the base of the cliff and knock bits of rock off the cliff. This creates a wave cut notch. Eventually, the weight of the unsupported rocks above the notch can cause the cliff to partially collapse.
Beaches have been a popular destination since tourism started. In order to prevent the sand on their beaches from being washed away by longshore drift, seaside town councils installed solid wooden fences called groynes. Not all beaches are sandy, there are also pebble beaches too. These can also be protected using groynes if necessary.
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You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Coastal landforms
Most of the coast of Britain is retreating
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Swash adds material to the beach
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The pebbles hammer at the cliff face and hollow out the base as a wave cut notch
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About 17 miles long - one of the longest storm beaches in Europe!
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They are long sand ridges growing out from a beach where the coastline suddenly changes direction - for example, Spurn Head in the estuary of the river Humber
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The rocks of a headland are usually a little more resistant to weathering and erosion than the rocks on either side
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A spit is created by longshore drift which is in turn created by the prevailing winds blowing on the coast. A prevailing wind is the most common wind direction, but wind can also arrive from other directions too. It is these secondary direction winds and the waves they create that can lead to the formation of a curve at the end of a spit
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Soft rock erodes to give bays; hard rock stands out as headlands
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Some sea walls are continuous and specially shaped to deflect the energy of the waves back out to sea. They are used to form the 'promenade' or 'esplanade' of seaside holiday towns to protect the town from storm damage
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They are set at right angles to the coastline
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