Lesson Y8-U02-L07

Y8-U02-L07 A Coast at Risk: The Holderness Coastline Quiz: KS3 Geography, Unit 8

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y8-U02-L07, A Coast at Risk: The Holderness Coastline: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 Geography (National Curriculum), Unit 8: Year 8: Coasts: A Changing Landscape, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. On which coast of England is Holderness?

    • The east coast
    • The west coast
    • The north coast
    • The south coast

  2. Which sea does the Holderness coast face?

    • The Celtic Sea
    • The Irish Sea
    • The English Channel
    • The North Sea

  3. What type of rock makes up the Holderness cliffs?

    • Boulder clay
    • Limestone
    • Chalk
    • Granite

  4. What is boulder clay?

    • A volcanic rock formed near plate edges, cooled from molten magma below
    • A layer of sand deposited by a river, sorted by the flow of the water
    • A hard rock formed from shells on the sea floor over millions of years
    • A soft, weak rock made of mud and stones left behind by ice

  5. What is the average erosion rate at Holderness?

    • About 20 metres per year
    • About 5 centimetres per year
    • About 0.1 metres per year
    • About 2 metres per year

  6. Which direction does longshore drift carry material at Holderness?

    • Westwards, inland
    • Southwards, towards Spurn Point
    • Northwards, towards Flamborough Head
    • Eastwards, out to sea

  7. What does 'retreat' mean in coastal geography?

    • A beach that grows outward over time, as sand builds up on the seaward side
    • When the cliff is worn back and the coastline moves inland over time
    • A wave that breaks far out at sea, away from the shore and the cliffs
    • Sand carried out to sea by the backwash, leaving the beach thinner each year

  8. Which feature has been built to the south from the material eroded at Holderness?

    • Old Harry Rocks, a chalk stack
    • Flamborough Head, a chalk headland
    • Spurn Point, a long spit
    • Slapton Ley, a freshwater lagoon

  9. What is the main reason the Holderness cliffs crumble so easily?

    • They sit high above the level of the sea
    • They are made of soft boulder clay
    • They are made of hard chalk
    • They have too many caves cut into them

  10. A cliff retreats 2 metres each year. How much land is lost in 5 years?

    • 10 metres
    • 7 metres
    • 25 metres
    • 2.5 metres

  11. At an erosion rate of 2 metres per year, how much land is lost in 25 years?

    • 250 metres
    • 12.5 metres
    • 50 metres
    • 27 metres

  12. The discovery says the cliff loses about 2 metres a year. About how much land has been lost in 14 years?

    • 140 metres
    • 28 metres
    • 14 metres
    • 7 metres

  13. Why does a thin beach lead to faster erosion of the cliff?

    • A thin beach makes the waves weaker and calmer
    • Less beach means waves hit the bare cliff directly
    • A thin beach stops the clay from washing out to sea
    • A thin beach draws more longshore drift onto the cliff

  14. Which set correctly lists the three reasons Holderness erodes so fast?

    • Soft clay, calm waves and a wide beach that shelters the cliffs from the sea
    • Hard chalk, powerful waves and no longshore drift, so the beach is always replenished
    • Soft boulder clay, powerful waves with a long fetch, and longshore drift removing the beach
    • Hard chalk, calm waves and a wide beach, which together protect the coast from erosion

  15. Storm waves from the North Sea cut a notch into the cliff base in a single night. What type of wave is this?

    • A tsunami wave
    • A constructive wave
    • A destructive wave
    • A tidal bore

  16. Which of these erosion rates is the fastest?

    • Flamborough chalk cliffs, at 0.1 metres per year
    • Holderness clay cliffs, at 2.0 metres per year
    • UK average across all coasts, at 1.0 metres per year
    • Holderness in a storm year, at 4.0 metres per year

  17. Explain why building a sea wall in one village could speed up erosion further along the coast.

    • Defences can deflect wave energy onto unprotected cliffs next door, which then erode faster
    • The wall makes the waves calmer, so erosion stops everywhere along the whole coast
    • Walls only erode the sea floor and never affect the cliffs or beaches beside them
    • The wall adds sand to the sea, which weakens the waves further along the coast

  18. Suggest why it is hard to decide whether to defend every village along Holderness.

    • Defences are illegal along every part of the North Sea coast, so none can be built
    • The clay is too strong to cut, so defence is impossible and nothing can be done
    • Defending everywhere costs huge sums and can shift erosion elsewhere, so trade-offs must be weighed
    • Sea walls work perfectly, so there is no trade-off to weigh and no cost to consider

  19. Why does the long fetch across the North Sea matter at Holderness?

    • The long fetch makes the boulder clay harder to erode, so the cliffs stand firmer
    • The long fetch gives waves more energy by the time they reach the coast
    • The fetch carries sand back north past Spurn Point, so the spit is always shrinking
    • A long fetch means waves break far from the cliff base, so little energy arrives

  20. Why does Spurn Point keep growing while the Holderness cliffs erode?

    • The spit is built from chalk carried up from Flamborough, which is laid down on the coast
    • The spit grows because the North Sea freezes around it, locking sand into a ridge
    • Eroded material moved south by longshore drift is deposited to build the spit
    • The spit is a bar that stops all drift completely, so sand builds up at its tip

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