Rapid coastal recession is caused by physical factors and human actions

What causes rapid rates of coastal recession?

• weakly consolidated rocks

• Large destructive waves

• Submergence of coastline

• Large scale mass movement

• Constant weathering

• Seaward rock dip

• Coastal defences

Why might coastal defences increase the rate of recession?

• stops long shore drift

• Sediment is deprived from areas below

• Cliffs with no defences have no beach and are more vulnerable to erosion

Offshore dredging - Hallsands, Devon

• 1500 tonnes of sediment removed for construction each day

• 1900 the village was under threat as there was no beach to protect cliff from wave action

• Amount of sediment continued to fall after stopping dredging in 1902

Dam building - Aswan Dam on the Nile

• Water slowed down and ripped sediment in the dam instead of the delta

• Delta starved of sediment so eroded material isn’t being replaced

• Erosion went up by 180m per year

• The dam reduced sediment volume by 115 million per year