Holderness coast

Describe the geology of the coastline

Made of soft boulder clays left after the retreat of derensian ice sheets about 12,000 years ago, rapidly eroded by the sea

What is the rate of erosion of the East Riding coastline?

Average rate of 1.5-2.5m per year

What are the main processes affecting the coastline?

Boulder clays become saturated with rainwater

Cliffs too steep falls as a block of material or slurry slide

Large waves from NE remove debris in long shore drift to southland the cliff over steepens, rain falls and cycle begins again

Which towns are most at risk of erosion?

Mapleton, as soft boulder clay cliffs, not sheltered by the headland and very exposed to wind and wave energy

Permanent inundation

Flooding of coastal land on a permanent basis, which is usually caused by a tidal surge, rise in sea level or managed realignment which changes the alignment of the shoreline

Coastal accretion

Gradual extension of land by natural forces, such as addition of sand to a beach by ocean currents, or extension of a floodplain through the deposition of sediments by repeated flood events

Where are the drains?

Barmston drain and tunstall drain, major towns are defended with strategically important drains