Adelaide Coast (geography)
Describe and explain the variation of coastal type and of landform along a particular coastline. The length of the particular coastline you choose may be as little as two or three kilometres or as much as several hundred kilometres. The Adelaide metropolitan coastline stretches around 30 kilometres, from Seacliff in the south to Outer Harbor in the North. Whilst the southern end of the coast has notable erosional landforms such as cliffs, wave-cut platforms and shingle beaches, the vast majority of the coastline is depositional. This essay will focus on the depositional sandy beaches and dune systems found along the Adelaide coastline.Much of the Adelaide coastline is made up of wide sandy beaches. Beaches are formed when sand is brought on to the beach by w
The same build up of sand south of the breakwater, and shortage of sand to the north occurs at Outer Harbor. This is because of Adelaide's prevailing south-westerly winds which causes a northerly drift of sand along the whole coastline. Sand is picked up by the waves and moves along the beach in a zig zag motion. In winter, as seen in diagram 2, waves are deconstructional, and the beach profile is lowered, resulting in the formation of a berm. The Adelaide metropolitan coastline consists of mainly depositional landforms. The breakwater interrupts the drift and sand is deposited, resulting in a wide sandy beach south of the breakwater, and a spit forming at the end, with North Glenelg being badly starved of sand. The primary dunes are held together with vegetation such as marram grass, whilst the secondary dunes contain larger shrubs and trees. The profile of the beach changes due to tidal and waves variation. This occurs particularly in the summer months when waves are constructional, as seen in diagram 1. Sand is carried on to the beach by waves and along the beach by the movement of longshore drift. In diagram 3, the action of longshore drift is shown at Glenelg. They are found primarily at West Lakes. Once humans or natural causes such as fire remove the vegetation the sand drifts away and the sand dune disappears.
Common topics in this essay:
North Whilst,
Lakes Dry,
Harbor Adelaide's,
,
Glenelg Sand,
North Glenelg,
sand dune,
sandy beaches,
longshore drift,
drift sand,
dune systems,
Outer Harbor,
dune systems found,
outer harbor,
metropolitan coastline,
beach waves,
systems found,
adelaide coastline,
adelaide metropolitan coastline,
|
Acceptance Essays
