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EnglandGeographyQuick questions
Area of Study 1: Dynamic Landscapes
Quick questions on Coastal landscapes and change: systems, landforms and management - Edexcel A-Level Geography
4short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the coast as a system within a sediment cell?Show answer
England and Wales are divided into eleven major littoral cells (for example Cell 2, Flamborough Head to The Wash, which contains the rapidly eroding Holderness coast). Treating the coast as an open system with inputs, throughputs, stores and outputs is the foundation of the whole topic: it explains why defending one place can damage another, and it underpins Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) that are written cell by cell rather than property by property.
What is managing coastal risk sustainably?Show answer
Shoreline management plans choose between four policies: hold the line, advance the line, retreat (managed realignment) or no active intervention. Hard engineering (sea walls, groynes, rip-rap, gabions) resists the sea but is costly and can starve downdrift coasts. Soft engineering (beach nourishment, dune regeneration, managed realignment) works with natural processes. Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) coordinates the whole cell and balances players with conflicting attitudes, a synoptic link to the human geography units: residents and businesses want their property held, while environmental groups and cost-conscious agencies may favour managed retreat.
What is q1?Show answer
Explain how a wave-cut platform forms. [4 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Suggest why managed realignment may be more sustainable than a sea wall. [4 marks]
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