An investigation into the effects of Seasonal Variation and Sea Walls on Beach erosion in Filey Bay, Yorkshire

Abstract

The following dissertation focuses on the effect of seasonal variation and sea walls on
beach erosion in Filey Bay, Yorkshire. The Yorkshire coast is one of the fastest eroding
in Europe, mainly due it its geology. This makes the management of sea defences
extremely important. Finding out if sea walls have an effect on erosion is also important
because sea defence is becoming more significant in coastal management due to sea level
rise and increasing storminess due to global warming.
The main type of research carried out on the beach in Filey was performed was beach
profiling. Profiles were taken in locations in front of, and away from a sea wall. They
were performed in summer, autumn and winter to cover as many seasons as possible.
Once data had been collected statistical analysis in the form of a T-Test was performed
on it to find out if the results were significant.
It was found, contrary to previous research that the sea wall reduced the amount of
erosion that occurred on the beach. It was also found that the sea wall had a significant
effect on the shape of the profiles produced. It was also found that considerably more
material was removed from the beach in winter than in summer and slightly more
material was removed in autumn than in summer. The results prove that there is a
seasonal variation in the amount of erosion that occurs on a beach but the data isn’t
significant enough to prove that sea walls have an effect on erosion.