jurassic coast essay

With reference to a regional case study, describe the nature of the hard and soft engineering strategies used to protect coastal areas and evaluate the impact of these strategies on the human and physical environment.

The complex geology and the variable orientation of the shore along the south coast of England creates a wide diversity of environments, habitats and landforms. This include a newly designated management cell of south Devon and Dorset stretching from Durlson head in the east to Rame head in the west, a distance of 300km. This area is known as the Jurassic coast, it has been designated as England’s only UNESCO heritage site. There is a need for management in this area because the long term pattern of change which exists is slow coastal retreat called transgression, over the last 2000 years it has been estimated to move at 1mm annually. Due to climate change the fear is that more extreme weather and higher frequency storms will increase the erosion.
These are the reasons why hard and soft engineering strategies have been implemented in sections of the coastline. Two cells identified in the first SMP in 1988 have been amalgamated. The SMP2 stresses on long term sustainability.
The 4 coastal management options are:
Hold the existing defence line
Advance the existing defence line
Managed realignment
No active intervention

Port town Weymouth has been described as too valuable to be lost. The centre of the bay is threatened by erosion, annually there is £250,000

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