Essay about Beach and Cronulla Beach

Submitted By yasminawad12
Words: 1526
Pages: 7

Geographically, beaches are a very important part of the natural environment and they are changing every season. Beaches are dynamic environments that are affected by coastal process that help shape the way they look.
Like many spectacular dynamic environments, Cronulla beach is part of the coastal environment. Cronulla is located in the Southern more protected end of Bate Bay, in New South Wales, Australia. It normally has a longitude and latitude of 34.0555° S, 151.1551°. The distance from Cronulla beach to Liverpool Al Amanah College is known to be 34.07km. Cronulla beach is one of the most spectacular and most beautiful beaches on the coastline on the south of Sydney. In addition to being one of the most top surfing beaches, it is close to Royal National Park. Not only is Cronulla beach a great landscape, it is the destination for all swimmers, surfers, walkers, sporting teams, surf-lifesaving events and families. Other than all the amusing facts, it is very important to learn about the history and outcomes of Cronulla beach as it will prove the great importance of this area.
Geographical processes pertain to any type of process that changes the geographical structure of an area (Clearly Explained, 2000, accessed March 20 2015, from http://clearlye xplained.com/html). Cronulla has many evident structural features that have influenced the coastal environment due to the extent of geographical changes. The most significantly obvious physical effects are due to natural coastal erosion. Coastal erosion is a process by which the beach moves due to strong waves, storms, and wind. The strength of the waves and wind result in sand movements along the shoreline and depending on the weather conditions may result in dramatic structural changes. Over the years, Cronulla beach has been formed and re-structured because of erosion. This occurs when stormy waves or cyclones develop and result in strong erosional waves that remove sand from dunes (Brooke, 2003). In Cronulla, this is a very serious process as sand dunes protect the beach and are vital to managing the coastline. Human activities such as coastal development including shops and accommodation in Cronulla accelerate the damage of erosion in strong weather conditions. For example, in Cronulla the sand dunes were modified from a height of approximately 15 metres to 4-5 metres for tourism. This has caused detrimental effects and has transformed the Cronulla beach shoreline.
In addition, longshore drift is also part of the geographical process. It is the process in which the movement of tangible particles alongside to the coast; in simpler form it is the movement of sand along the coastline. Longshore drift, turn up when waves approach a beach at an intersection due to the direction, management and strength of the wind. It is affected by the surf zone currents, which bring about and make waves and strong wave directions. The Individual particles are moved along the beach, and most form a zigzag pattern or form.
Disposition is another well-known type of geographical process. Deposition occurs waves do not carry as much energy and cannot transport a large amount of water. When wave energy drops and is no longer strong, the wave’s ability falls as well and the largest particles are the first to set down. Deposition is another process that is being managed at North Cronulla beach. Dune stabilization is used to help prevent and deposited materials from being eroded away. The vegetation planted on the dunes hold the dunes together with their roots, and the fences are also provided around the dunes to prevent damage to the plants, other than sand dunes the council has provided planked walk ways that help the sand from being eroded.
To manage the coast of Cronulla, there were many management strategies put in place to protect the coastline. This includes protecting the coast from natural geographical processes as well as regular human intervention which affects the coast. One