Longshore Drift

Introduction

The Longshore drift is when sediments are transferred by tides caused by prevailing wind. The
minerals are then taken out to sea and move in a zigzag motion, going further away from shore
then closer to shore. In this report, I explain what me and my partner did to solve our questions
we had about the Longshore drift effect by doing an experiment on a beach called Long Ke
Beach.

What are Geological processes? (Extra Information of what we saw)

Geological processes have helped to create many iconic features on Earth. Geological Processes
involve Erosion, Weather and Plate Tectonics.

The way Hexagonal Columns form is when rocks

that consist of columns that are separated by
fractures in the rocks. Fractures appear when the
rocks formed are contracted. This mostly happens
when the rocks cool down. Water plays a big part
in creating this rare shapes. Water cools it down
when the lava “flows”.

The hexagonal columns there are quite unstable.

The way the risks are minimised is by putting
concrete on the rocks. This way, the concrete is
held in place, making sure the rocks don’t fall.

Research Questions

Q.1) Does Longshore Drift impact the marine life or us? What would happen if the Longshore
Drift impact didn’t exist?

Q.2) How does the Longshore Drift effect work?

Hypothesis

H1) I think that this would impact us but not really to the marine life. It would only affect it a bit.

H2) We have discussed this in class before, the way longshore drift works is when particles are
taken out to sea and returned back to shore

Table
 Time (min) Distance (cm) Direction (<-/->)

1:00 1:22 ->

2:00 7:40 ->

3:00 1:15 <-

4:00 1:00 <-

5:00 1:00 <-

6:00 3:50 <-

7:00 10:52 <-

8:00 8:38 <-

9:00 7:42 <-

10:00 Comes back to Shore <-

The object we used was a lemon. The orange that other groups came back faster than the lemon.

RESULTS

These results show that in 10

minutes, the lemon comes back.
These results show that the most of
the time it would come back to
shore, it only went once to the far
end of in the sea, after that, it would
only make its way to shore. We
think this happened was because
we threw it in the sea, which we
couldn’t have done since it
completely changed the way the
longshore drift effect works.
Longshore drift works when the
waves take the sand from the beach
and then distributes it, however, we
threw it in. The oddest results were when the lemon came back from shore, however, before that
it was 7.42. The reason why we found this quite odd was because before 7.42, it was 8.38. Since
it only moved 0.96cm closer to shore from 8.38, I suspected that it would take more time to
come back to shore however, within a minute, it came back to the sand. We saw some patterns
which included some numbers going up and down frequently, but for others, it was quite
contrasted and different.
 Methogly

Type of data Qualitative or Description of Justification Problems Solutions to

collection quantitative what you did of what you that you those problems
technique data did encountered

Table Quantitative The steps to The reason A couple of The solution we

recording the why we problems we could have done
type of results collected our found was was we could
we got were data like this is that it went have tested it at
measure the because this out to sea least 3 times for
distance of each shows extra twice and more accurate
minute (e.g in 3 information then came results. We would
minutes, that could be back. have done it if we
measure how far have more time to
it went in 3 do it
minutes

Line Graph Both (The The thing we Line graphs The problem I The way I
reason for that did was that we are used to had with the resolved this was
is because it used the main show a series line graph by making a new
contains information of data was that the graph and made
numbers from the table overtime, this data wasn’t sure the y and x
however, it we made earlier, could be for put in the axis were labelled
contains rainfall, right place. properly.
complex data unemployment
that would take rates, etc. I
more time to thought it was
process) suitable to use
this way of
recording
instead of
using a Bar
graph

Conclusion
We found out that the longshore drift effect is actually a horrible thing since it can cause beach
erosion. Beach erosion causes beaches to become narrower and narrower. Longshore drift also
builds barrier beaches and barrier islands. Barriers are long narrow strips of sand and gravel
that are separated from the main shore by lagoons, marshes and mudflats. These beach erosions
can also cause harm to buildings, house and infrastructure. Beach erosions can also cause
financial loss for coastal cities since most of their tourist destinations include a beach. The way
Longshore Drift affect animals is that this process can eradicate their habitat. Stephen
Leatherman (“Dr. Beach”) of the National Healthy Beaches Campaign says that beach erosions is
a hazard that includes removal of sand which impacts the sea levels. However, sea erosions can
decrease possibilities of animals (such
as whales or dolphins) being washed
ashore, otherwise, this is quite a
horrible case. A type of animal that is
impacted by the Longshore Drift effect
would be snails and other small
creatures that live on the beach, the
reason for that is because some of the
species can only stay in water for a
limited time before it dies. When
storms come, Global Warming (a
danger that involves massive ice caps to
melt and create a oceans with higher
altitude) also increases chances of a
deadlier storm.

How does change occur at Long Ke Beach?

The way change occurs at Long Ke Beach is possibly by Beach erosions. It is a process that
occurs when waves and currents remove sand from the beach system. The reduction of sand
causes the beach to become narrower and lower in altitude. When sea storms approach, it
carries the sand offshore, depositing and accumulating the sediment in large sandbars
platforms. After weeks and months about the storm, the sand is returned to the beach by calm
waves. Throughout the world, beach erosion has become a serious concern for coastal counties.
Beach erosion also imperils coastal properties and infrastructure, such as roads, homes, and
businesses. A series of storms can cause significant retreat of the shoreline, leaving coastal
property more defenseless to future storms.

Evauation

The biggest success of our investigation was that we found out all of the answers to our research
questions, however, the problem we faced (mentioned before) was that we threw it in which
impacted the way the lemon went. The way this caused to be a problem was because longshore
drift takes sand from the shore. The way we could have avoided this dilemma from happening
would be to make sure we put it slowly into the water.

Links:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/coasts/coastal_processes_rev4.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longshore_drift
http://uk.whales.org/whales-and-dolphins/facts-about-whales
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-causes-beach-erosion/
https://www.google.com.hk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8
&ved=0ahUKEwiAzaPyzrrUAhWEJZQKHXG7BswQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeterlampho
tography.com%2F2014%2F01%2F21%2Faround-long-ke-wan%2F&psig=AFQjCNE4doBZnHVX
kFChwMySY3Tl6cCG9w&ust=1497436248526737