Outline a programme of field of fieldwork and research that you would undertakes to investigate rates of coastal retreat (15 marks)

Fieldwork is the collection of primary data carried out at the location in the field. Research is secondary data and archival research normally carried out before or after investigation in the field. Coastal retreat is the removal of sediment from the shoreline/erosion resulting in the coastline moving back.
During the investigation it would be important to consider the different fieldwork technique that I have used e.g. GOAD mapping this technique is a record of different business and building in the location however this data is being collected by walking around the location looking at GOAD map to see changes overtime, this appropriate and out as evidence because if there was building on the coast that is not present it show in comparison that the coast has been retreat. This information may not be accurate because of the limitation has in the GOAD map may not have enough details about building, house and business details.
The second fieldwork technique that I would undertake is field sketch/photos this is being collected by drawing a sketch of landmarks and geologically feature of the land like cliffs, headland and wave cut platform, the more detail being draw the more accurate the field sketch also the photos are being taken by a camera to record the feature of the location in more details. This may act as evidence for coastal retreat because if you compare other field sketch that was done by other researcher and there have being changes in the land mass and feature to the extend where some land form may not visible or cannot be seen this show evidence of the coast being retreated but there are some limitation to this field work technique because not all field sketch have being draw accurate to scale also the time of the year will exposed some land form while some hide it so it will be difficult to judge the extent of coastal retreat.
The third fieldwork technique that I would undertake is interviews / questionnaire this is being collected by asking questions to local people to gain their experience and opinion about the past history of the location for E.G. what physical processes are operating at the coast, why is the area at risk from erosion flooding and what impact are erosion/flooding having on development. This act as evidence for coastal retreat because the opinion of the past can explain how far the coast have being retreat compare to the current image of the area. There are some limitations to this fieldwork technique because the interviewee may not have enough experience because they are too young to recall events happened back in the past where changes were noticeable.

During the investigation it would be important to consider the different research technique that I have used e.g. GIS map VS old OS maps this have being collected from the internet by different sources, the maps acts as evidence for coastal retreat because it’s able to show a comparison between different time zones or frames in which each maps had being record, this help to identify changes throughout time and see the difference. There are some limitations to this research because this information may not be accurate in both map which may not have enough details about building, house and road ECT, also the technology that was used to record the data maybe out of data which don’t help to capture as much information as modern day method.
My second research technique is newspaper articles this is being collected by visiting a local shop or a press for old and new newspapers from different time period, the newspapers acts as evidence for coastal retreat because it’s able to show a comparison between event for E.G. there may be an report of loss of land to the seas in the last century with pictures also there may be an report of landslides in same location due to hard weather and huge waves. These reports have some limitations because they are made up of truth and opinion from the local people which may alter the accuracy of the event but it give some ideas and details of the processes that happened in the past and current times.
I have conclude that further research can be done linked to limitation to all the different fieldwork and research technique that I have mention E.G. GOAD mapping, field sketch/photos, interviews / questionnaire, GIS map VS old OS maps and newspaper articles there are more fieldwork and research technique that could be used to undertakes the investigation the rates of coastal retreat.