Sea Defences at Minehead and Their Effectiveness
Introduction
Minehead is located in the South-west of England, on the Somerset
coast (as shown in pictures 1 & 2). The area of sea is subject to the
second largest tidal ranges in the world, 14m. Over the years the
tides have been a mixed blessing, with it's vary fast running
currents. The tides have allowed Minehead to develop into a busy
seaside area with their harbour. Minedhead has also been flooded on
numerous occasions, for example in 1910, 1936, 1981, 1989, 1990, 1992
and twice in 1996.
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Picture 2
Picture 1
History/ Background
Minehead has had some form of sea defence for several years. When the
town was just a small hamlet the only protection from the sea was by a
high beach, which was backed by a natural shingle and cobble ridge.
However with the town growing rapidly, the ridge was gradually
replaced with a masonry wall. Minehead's harbour to the west,
'rip-rap' groynes were placed along the beach which contributed to a
major loss of the beach material since the early 20th century.
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The old sea wall which was under attack was suffering frequent damage,
but despite all of its repairs the wall had reached the end of what
was called its 'useful life.' This meant that the government and local
community found that if no improvements were made to the sea wall and
defences. If a storm was forecast the damage today would cost over an
estimated £21 million.
Picture 3
However for a new wall to replace the damaged one the problem was down
to who would be responsible for its 'upkeep'. This meant that for the
new wall to built the Environment Agency, West Somerset Council,
Butlins and Somerset County Council had to agree to employ engineering
teams and landscape architects come to Minehead to build the wall
which would cost millions of pounds. But before the sea front had a
revamp, calculations of the size of the project, would show the town
* A decrease in pebble size in the direction of long shore drift. * An increase in pebble roundness in the direction of long shore drift. I visited the two extreme ends of the beach, Gore point at the west and Hurl stone point at the east, at each end I measured: * The shape of the beach known as the beach profile, using a tape measurer and a clinometer. A clinometer measures the angle of a slope. * The size and shape of a sample of pebbles.
The only landmarks available to the eye are dozens of miles of ocean waves, occasionally broken up by an ocean going freighter or container ship that might sometime plod past the area, on their way inbo...
[4.1] On average, how many high and low tides will a given spot on the coast experience in a day, and why?
In Edward Ayers’ book, In The Presence of Mine Enemies, he argues how rather than being vastly different, the North and South, from 1859-1863, were actually more similar than different. Though he focuses mainly on how the two were similar, he also includes differences between the North and South as well. Ayers effectively argues his point through the use of primary sources from The Valley of the Shadow archives.
See Location Map of the coastline being studied from Herne Bay to Reculver.
vary from 0 to 7 feet above chart data. Because of these semi - diurnal tides
Barrier Beaches stretch along the entire east coast of the United States. The barrier beaches from Long Island to Maine are known as Glaciated Coasts because their formation was assisted by glaciers. Eighteen thousands years ago a glacier covered most of the eastern US. This glacier terminated at present day Long Island. About fifteen thousands years ago the glacier began to retreat. As it melted it left behind mounds of rubble, called moraines. This particular glacier left behind two moraines because its final recession was a two part process. These two moraines are the Ronkonkoma Moraine and the Harbor Hill Moraine. The Ronkonkoma Moraine is located in central Long Island and the Harbor Hill Moraine is located on the northern part of Long Island. Besides the two moraines the glaciers deposited great amounts of debris offshore. This debris supplies the sand needed to create and maintain a barrier beach system (Hoel 16-18).
The setting of the town is described by the author as that of any normal rural
knowledge" (4-5). In line 1, the speaker establishes straight off the bat that the Sargasso Sea is
The Battle of the Coral Sea was a very unique naval engagement, as well as the turning point in the Pacific Theatre. In the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Japanese, under command of Admiral Takagi, attacked the Solomon Islands and Port Moresby, the port on the southeastern coast of New Guinea (Peter C. Chen). The American force, commanded by Vice Admiral Fletcher, were deployed to prevent this invasion. This battle was the first of its kind, as it was the first battle ever fought by all aircraft and with two forces who never knew exactly where their opponent was. This way of fighting was complemented by the bad weather, slow, clumsy ships, limited communication, but most of all the massive area upon which the battle was fought. The Battle of the Coral Sea greatly influenced the course of the Pacific Theatre (The Pacific Theatre). Although there was no clear winner of the battle, it was the first that the Americans didn’t lose, and after it the Japanese didn’t win another. It also led the Japanese to underestimate the power of the American navy in the Battle of Midway, which was a fatal error (Willmott, 230). The Battle of the Coral Sea was the first battle of a new era, in which the aircraft carrier controlled war at sea.
Primary coasts are divided into two categories: submergent and emergent coasts. Submergent coastlines result from a general sea-level rise and crustal subsidence. Most of the eastern United States has submergent coastlines. One example is the Chesapeake Bay. Emergent coastlines result from the land being lifted, either by tectonic activity or rebound from the weight of heavy glaciers, which exposes the former sea bottom bit by bit forming continuously new shoreline.
In the spring of 1942 the U.S. Navy and Japanese Imperial Fleet engaged in battle at sea on more than one occasion. The Battle of Coral Sea, however, was the first time that these too forces would engage one another at sea using only aircraft. This will be the first battle in history where ships from both sides would never see the other like most conventional naval battles; this one will be fought entirely by aircraft.
I would recommend this book to peers as it does cover those aspects we tend to stray away from in war. We covet our ideas for war planning and our advanced technology, but when it comes down to it war is very much the same, it just holds different devices to kill each other with. In many scenarios in “the Defence of Duffers Drift” the cold hard truth that every reader pries from the story is that following the lessons over and over made the commander win, but from my point of view I would almost call the commander incompetent, for one reason. It stated he had been no stranger to war and obviously understood the enemy and the surrounding area. If you had to fight a battle six times to fully understand it, most likely you would lose your first
see two piers jutting out into the Pacific. On either side of the piers are