Headlands in the Uk and Overseas

Headlands in the UK and overseas

The Foreland (Dorset Coastline) is a great example of a headland which shows the features of a headland, and the formation of the headland to be created. At the Foreland there is a distinctive stack called Old Harry and a stump known as Old Harry's Wife.

Furthermore, an example of a headland overseas is the Cap de la Chèvre which is the southernmost point of the Crozon peninsula in western Brittany in France.

Headlands are resistant outcrops of rock sticking out into the sea.

Headlands at the Foreland have been created along the discordant coastlines of hard and soft rock bands which are right angles to the coastline. Then, due to the two different rock types there are two different types of erosion occurring. This is the erosion of soft rock at a speedy quick rate which erodes soft rock such as shale. There are also harder rocks such as clay which erode, but take longer for it to occur. Where softer rock erodes, there are bays which are formed due to this rapid erosion on the coastline, resulting in the coastline being further back once eroded. As for the more resistant rock, erosion process is slower and therefore that more resistant rock land is left sticking out into the sea known as a headland. However, due to it sticking out in sea, it is more vulnerable to destructive waves because of hydraulic action taking place when the water of waves crash into small gaps on the coast, resulting it to crack and expand. But the headland protects the adjacent bays that have been eroded in land as a form of natural barrier.