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Northern IrelandGeography

Unit 1 Theme B: Coastal Environments

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

Why do coasts flood, and how do people affect and value coastal environments?

The causes and effects of coastal flooding, the threat of rising sea levels, and the conflicting ways people use and value the coast (AO1, AO2).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography guide to coastal flooding and human pressures on the coast. Covers the physical causes of coastal flooding including storm surges and rising sea levels, the social, economic and environmental effects, and the competing demands people place on coastlines.
12 min answer →

How do erosion and deposition create distinctive coastal landforms?

The formation of headlands and bays, caves, arches, stacks and stumps by erosion, and beaches and spits by deposition (AO1, AO2).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography guide to coastal landforms. Covers how headlands, bays, caves, arches, stacks and stumps form by erosion, and how beaches and spits form by deposition, linked to the processes that create them.
13 min answer →

How is a real coastline managed, and what conflicts does this create?

A case study of coastal erosion and management on a named coastline, its causes, the strategies used, and their effects (AO1, AO2).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography case study of coastal erosion and management, using the Holderness coast as a worked example. Covers why the coast erodes so fast, the management strategies used, their effects downdrift, and how to deploy a case study in an exam answer.
13 min answer →

How do waves shape the coast through erosion, transport and deposition?

Constructive and destructive waves, the processes of marine erosion, transportation by longshore drift, and deposition (AO1).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography guide to coastal processes. Covers constructive and destructive waves, the four processes of marine erosion, transportation by longshore drift, and why deposition occurs, as the foundation for coastal landforms.
12 min answer →

How can coastlines be managed, and which strategies are most sustainable?

Hard and soft engineering strategies for managing the coast, their costs and benefits, and how to evaluate the most sustainable approach (AO2, AO3).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography guide to coastal management. Covers hard engineering such as sea walls, groynes and rock armour, soft engineering such as beach nourishment, dune regeneration and managed retreat, and how to evaluate the most sustainable approach.
13 min answer →