Bays and Headlands
1.
Headlands and Bays form along DISCORDANT coastlines where rocks outcrop
at 90o to the coast
2. Here there are alternate bands of resistant and less resistant rock
3. Where there is soft rock (e.g. clay), erosion is rapid - and bays are formed (indent in coastline)
4. Where there is more resistant rock (e.g. chalk), erosion is much slower - headlands are formed as the harder rock is left sticking out into the sea
5. Exposed headlands then become vulnerable to destructive waves but help to shelter neighbouring bays.
Named examples from the Dorset Coast include:
Swanage Bay (Dorset Coastline)
The Foreland (Headland) (Dorset Coastline)
Back Cliff Erosion Erosion of a Headland Coastal Deposition Features