Fig. 1 is a simplified map from a coastal fieldwork booklet. It shows a sand and shingle ridge extending across the mouth of a small river estuary. Students...
Question 1 Report
Fig. 1 is a simplified map from a coastal fieldwork booklet. It shows a sand and shingle ridge extending across the mouth of a small river estuary. Students observed that the ridge curves landwards at its eastern end and that a sheltered area of mud lies behind it. The coast is exposed to waves from the south-west, while the river flows towards the sea. Use the study figure to interpret the landform and the processes that have created it.
(a) Name the depositional feature labelled in Fig. 1. [1]
(b) Identify the process that transports sediment along the open coast. [1]
(c) Describe why the end of the feature is curved. [2]
(d) State two conditions that encourage deposition in the sheltered water behind the ridge. [2]
(e) Explain how the river affects the final shape and growth of this coastal feature. [6]
Answer Details
(a) The depositional feature is a spit. [1]
(b) Sediment is transported along the open coast by longshore drift. [1]
(c) A change in wind or wave direction can bend deposited sediment. Tidal or river currents can also curve the end landwards. [2]
(d) Fine sediment is deposited where wave energy is low, water is shallow and sheltered from prevailing waves, and water flow is slow. Any two conditions gain credit. [2]
(e) The river prevents the spit from joining directly across the estuary mouth. Its current carries away deposited sediment, while longshore drift continues supplying material along the coast. Sediment accumulates where energy falls, so the spit extends until river or tidal flow checks its growth. Changing flow can create the recurved end. [6]
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