Coastal Erosion: Photographic Perspectives ISABELLE WILLIAMS
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Coastal Erosion: Photographic Perspectives Jurassic Coast • Holderness Coast •Lancashire Coast
Introduction Coastal Erosion: Photographic Perspectives is a visual study of the
With this project, I wanted to bring to the forefront of people’s minds
geological make-up of the English coastline, and the threat of erosion
the idea of an impermanent coastline - the idea that our coastline is
that faces coastal communities. The inspiration for this project came
not static. The cliffs and beaches that surround England are dramatic
when I was reflecting on a photographic study I did of the geology of
remnants of a prehistoric time, yet they are almost alive in the way in
the Brecon Beacons in the autumn of 2013. ‘Geology’ refers to the
which they react with the sea and climatic elements to move across
scientific study of the origin, history, and structure of the Earth. Without
the modern-day map. By looking at the idea of erosion as a socio-
detailed knowledge of the subsurface of our environment, the civil
environmental issue, I intend to make the project a longitudinal study,
engineers our society relies on to build roads, houses, railways, canals,
and both expand the breadth of the work, as well as the depth. With
and tunnels, would essentially have to guess as to the stability of an
regard to the aesthetic of the work, I have tried to portray the idea of
area of land. In addition, the interest in our planet’s history gives way to
natural drama and the expressive weather-related elements that make
the study of paleoclimatology, and paleogeology, without which society
up the context of the work. I have found that coastal landscapes have
would have little understanding of what resources are available where,
provided me with the opportunity to create photographs with emotion
such as mineral ores, drinking water, and coal. Surely, the modernisation
and energy. The diversity of weather patterns and geological material
of infrastructure, technology, and the success man has experienced, as
adds texture and dimension to the work. Looking forward to how I can
a result of industrialisation would not be possible without the basic
move on with the idea of erosion and geology, the coastal landscapes
knowledge of the land on which we live.
of Scotland appeal greatly and I’d like to continue with this project by studying the state of the coast of Ireland as well. For now though,
I was inspired to combine this new interest with documentary
Coastal Erosion: Photographic Perspectives acts as a catalytic starting
landscape photography.
point for a countrywide, lifetime project.
Old Harry Rocks, on the Isle of Purbeck, mark the most eastern point of the Jurassic Coast.The chalk ridge that once extended from Purbeck to the Isle of Wight contained river channels that had already carved their way through the rock. Approximately 20,000 years ago, the ridge succumbed to flooding as sea levels rose after the last glacial period.The chalk was slowly stripped back over thousands of years, creating the formations that are visible today.
Old Harry Rocks • Dorset Jurassic Coast
The Purbeck Beds at Stair Hole are made up of layers of clays, limestone, and mudstone deposited in a large, shallow lagoon over 147 million years ago. Stair Hole provides one of the best examples of limestone folding. As the African and European tectonic plate collision occured some 30 million years ago, the limestone strata was thrust upwards and now lies vertically, rather than horizontally.
Stair Hole • Lulworth • Dorset Jurassic Coast
The chalky cliffs which form the back of Lulworth Cove date back 97 million years and climatic and erosional changes have allowed vegetation to grow on them over time. The grooves in the cliffs are evidence of renewed erosion and, combined with rising sea levels, this will act to enlarge the cove and reveal fresh white chalk that is free of grasses.
Lulworth Cove • Dorset Jurassic Coast
Acting a protective rampart to the coastline, the fine-grained limestone that makes up the Portland Stone strata at Stair Hole, is amongst the oldest geology on the Jurassic Coast, dating back 150 million years.
Stair Hole • Lulworth • Dorset Jurassic Coast
As the sea exploits a weak spot, a cave is carved out in the Portland Limestone of which Durdle Door is made up. The cave is enlarged by the erosive power of the sea until an arch is formed. Although it is not possible to predict when this will occur, the ceiling of the Durdle Door arch will eventually collapse, isolating its pillars as stacks.
Durdle Door • Wareham • Dorset Jurassic Coast
Like so many inlets and bays along the Jurassic Coast, the geological formations at Man O’War Cove will eventually succumb to erosion and fall away.The cove will widen and eventually isolate the very edges of the Durdle Door peninsula.
Man O’War Cove • Dorset Jurassic Coast
There exists evidence of mankind all along the British coastline. The features of civilisation that lie on the edge of an unstable coastline are exposed to the natural elements that shape the very rock on which they stand. Sometimes appearing isolated, weathered, or vulnerable, the longevity of their existence is uncertain.
Selwicks Bay • Flamborough Head • Yorkshire Holderness Coast
Flamborough Head • Yorkshire Holderness Coast
Spurn Point is formed from sand and shingle washed southwards from the Yorkshire coast, and deposited in the calmer waters at the mouth of the Humber Estuary. Exposed to high winds and the movement of the sea, the sands are continually shifting. Over a prolonged period of time, the penisula will gradually move westwards and potentially form a sheltered lagoon on the north bank where the River Humber meets the North Sea.
Spurn Point • East Riding Holderness Coast
With such rapid erosion occuring in the North East of England, it becomes difficult for the boundaries to be maintained or re-established. Before they have really served their purpose, there is a high chance they will have been lost to the sea.
Skipsea • East Riding Holderness Coast
Spurn Point • East Riding Holderness Coast
Ainsdale Beach • Ainsdale • near Southport Lancashire Coast
Ainsdale Beach • Ainsdale • near Southport Lancashire Coast
The Holderness Coast experiences a loss of a couple of metres of coastline per year. If there a occurs a season of particularly high winds and stormy weather, the extent of the loss can exceed ten metres. Over the last 2000 years, the Yorkshire coastline from Bridlington to Spurn Point has retreated four kilometres, resulting in the disappearences of over thirty towns and villages.
Aldbrough • East Riding Holderness Coast
Kilnsea • East Riding Holderness Coast
Where the cliff-top houses were at risk of falling down into the sea on the Holderness Coast, there is a high proportion of dwellings on the far-western frontier of the Jurassic Coast that are living precariously in the shadow of the unstable cliffs of Lias clay and Upper Greensand.
Monmouth Beach • Lyme Regis • West Dorset Jurassic Coast
Beer Head • Beer • East Devon Jurassic Coast
Sandstone, clay and soil-based sediments formed as the Jurassic period gave way to the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago can be easily eroded, as they are weak and friable. As the Cretaceous period spans the boundary between the Jurassic and Cenozoic Eras, and ‘Cenozoic’ stems from the Greek phrase meaning “new life”, it is perhaps appropriate that indeed vegetation can spring from such minerals. Upper Greensand can be very fertile and, when mixed other sediments containing organic matter, vegetation can grow quite quickly and easily. Marram and Sea Couch Grass can withstand arid and windswept conditions such as sandy beaches. In an effort to stabilise the ground, and prevent coastal erosion, grasses have been introduced to various locations around the British Isles. As the pioneer species, the grasses enrich the soil, allowing more diverse and abundant flora to grow. Inland, the climax vegetation, the final stage of plant succession, should be woodland.
Monmouth Beach • Lyme Regis • West Dorset Jurassic Coast
Tunstall • East Riding Holderness Coast
Studland Bay • Dorset Jurassic Coast
Knoll Beach • Studland Jurassic Coast
Knoll Beach • Studland Jurassic Coast
The soft green-ish sediment of the Upper Greensand stains the beach as it trickles towards the sea, fresh from the cliff collapse. The dark streaks of Lias clay visible beneath the cliff-top line of trees indicates where the vegetation has slid down the face of the cliff.
Monmouth Beach • Lyme Regis • West Dorset Jurassic Coast
Vast swathes of harder Blue Lias shales jut out into the sea, and at low tide, the deep grooves are visible stretching out into the distance.The platforms which remain under water most of the time, contain Piddock borings and burrows of other small marine invertebrates.
Monmouth Beach • Lyme Regis • West Dorset Jurassic Coast
Monmouth Beach • Lyme Regis • West Dorset Jurassic Coast
Longshore drift is a major cause of sediment movement along the Holderness Coast. As the winds pick up across the open North Sea, small sand particles are transported easily down the coast towards the mouth of the Humber Estuary. In an effort to break up the vast expanses of coastline, wave breakers have been positioned on the shore to slow the process and maintain the boundaries of the land.
Spurn Point • East Riding Holderness Coast
Chesil Beach, along the south coast of England, is a major shingle structure that stretches for 29 kilometres between Abbotsbury and the Isle of Portland. Formed over 6000 years, the beach is 200 metres wide and 15 metres high, and contains over a million tonnes of chert and flint shingle. A true testament to the power of the wind and the sea, the beach is not static, but is infact moving inland at a rate of approximately five metres per century.
Chesil Beach • view from New Ground • Portland • Dorset Jurassic Coast
Chesil Beach • view from Abbotsbury • Dorset Jurassic Coast
The clay and chalk in the sandstone and limestone rocks is displaced easily by the incoming tide. When the tide retreats, the clay sediment stains the sand of the beach and creates elaborate and abstract patterns.
Clay deposit on Knoll Beach • Studland • Dorset Jurassic Coast
When the tide retreats on Monmouth Beach, the indentations and grooves that have been cut out of the Lias platforms by the waves are more clearly visible. The displacement of the shingle can be seen from further up the beach, near the cliffs, to below the shoreline at high tide.
Monmouth Beach • Lyme Regis • West Dorset Jurassic Coast
Shoreline at Durdle Door • Dorset Jurassic Coast
The unique shape of the cove is a result of wave diffraction. The narrow entrance to the cove ensures that, as waves enter, they bend into an arced shape. The smaller samples of chalk that have broken away from the cliffs are likely to erode quickly once they sit on the shoreline because the movement of the breaking breaks crushes them against other rocks.
Shoreline at Lulworth Cove • Dorset Jurassic Coast
Where the rising and falling water levels have stained the cliffs and stacks green with marine life, the chalk platforms lying on the beach are contantly renewed by the action of the waves and therefore remain a more identifiable white colour. The ridges on the chalk indicate the waves roll into the bay from a north-easterly direction.
Wave-cut chalk platforms • Selwicks Bay • Flamborough Head • Yorkshire Holderness Coast