Changing coastlines

Changing coastlines

This issue’s Question and Answer uses the 2020 Pearson Edexcel Paper 2 (physical geography) examination paper. The topic is Coastal Landscapes and Change, in the Landscape Systems, Processes and Change section. Questions focus on both coastal processes and management and range from 6 marks up to 20 marks. Coasts is a topic covered by other specifications (see Box 1), although question styles, command words and mark tariffs do vary. The exam comments are the responsibility of GEOGRAPHY REVIEW and have neither been provided nor approved by the examination board. The answers given are not the only possible answers.

Figure 1 Current annual rate of relative land and sea-level change in the British Isles (mm/year)

Study Figure 1. Explain the role of isostatic processes in causing changes in relative sea level. (6 marks)

This short question is marked using levels, but you might want to approach it by thinking of writing three extended points. Figure 1, which a good answer needs to refer to, shows the current rate of relative change in sea-level for the British Isles. The data in mm are ‘net change’, i.e. the sum of both isostatic and eustatic change, but you are being asked to only explain the role of isostatic change in generating these sea-level changes. Answers cannot drift into eustatic explanations (see Box 2). Scotland and parts of northern England are rising relative to sea-level (+0.5mm, +1mm), whereas parts of England’s east and southwest coasts are sinking (–0.5mm). Think about how you could write three extended explanations related to ‘isostatic change’, each linked to Figure 1, as a way to score 6 marks.