EQ 2: low energy coastline: farewell spits and golden bay, nz

what is farewell spit?

a narrow sand spit at the northern end of the Golden Bay in the South Island of New Zealand, with 25km of stable land
at least 3,4 million cubic metres of material is added to spit each year

how was farewell spit formed?

began building at the end of the last ice age 14,000 years ago
rivers transport high amounts of suspended sediment (granite and schist) to tasmian sea
finest material carried to tip of south island by LSD, change in coast direction due to Golden Bay causes LSD to continue into sea, forming spit

what are features of tidal flats near farewell spit?

dominate 900m from shore, covering 200km2 and extend up to 8km into bay in a triangular shape

what are features of salt marshes behind farewell spir?

cover around 0.3km2 and are 0.3-1.5m above sea level
farewell spit provides ideal conditions - low energy environment + shelter from wind and waves
high sediment supply + low gradient of tidal flat encourages deposition and salt marshes flood diurnally → more deposition

what are features of Golden Bay?

very shallow, max depth of 37km

how are the landforms interrelated?

spit + salt marshes, spit + bay

how are the spit and salt marshes interrelated?

spit creates low energy environment, encouraging deposition to build up salt marsh

how are the spit and the bay interrelated?

farewell spit formation is dependent on existence of Golden Bay, as it provides necessary change in coastal direction to allow LSD to continue into open sea
spit also provides shelter from wind + waves for bay