3.2.4 UK Coast: The Dorset Coast - Case Study

📝Examples of Coastal Features

Coastal Features

Durdle Door

• A great example of an arch.
• Erosion by the waves opened up a crack in the limestone headland, which became a cave and then developed into an arch.

Lulworth Cove

• A small bay formed after a gap was eroded through a band of limestone.
• Behind the limestone is a band of clay, which has been eroded away to form the bay.

Chesil Beach

• A tombolo (a type of spit) formed by longshore drift.
• Joins the Isle of Portland to the mainland.
• Behind Chesil Beach is a shallow lagoon called the Fleet Lagoon.

Swanage Bay

• Two bays with beaches called Swanage Bay and Studland Bay.
• Areas of softer rock.
• Between them is a headland called The Foreland, made of harder rock (chalk).
• The end of the headland has been eroded to become a stack called Old Harry and a stump called Old Harry's Wife.