Some questions ...

University of Hull

1 : How fast is Holderness eroding?

Various claims have been made about the rate at which the clifs are being eroded. Use the aerial photographs and maps to measure the rate at which land has been lost over the last century and a half.

Rate of erosion = cliff retreat in metres divided by the number of years between the map and photograph.

2 : Is it the same all along the coast?

Try calculating the rate of erosion at various points along the Holderness coast. Is the rate the same for the full 60 km stretch? If not can you suggest any reasons for the variation.

3 : Does coastal protection work?

The towns of Hornsea and Withernsea have been protected from the sea for many years. Even the first Ordnance Survey maps show this. Has erosion been stopped or reduced in these two places?

4 : Do sea defences disturb natural processes further down the coast?

Try measuring the rates of erosion at various points within two kilometres north and south of the sea defences at Hornsea and Withernsea. Have the defensive works changed these rates from what might have been expected?

Look at the new breakwater at Mappleton (TA43). This large structure was built with huge blocks of Scandinavian rock in 1991. How has it affected the coast?