Deben Banks EarthCache
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Short walk up coastal path, open to the sea.
The entrance of the River Deben has changed over thousands of years. In the past the sea level have change and were at some point higher than they are now.
If you look inland you can see the wide flat land of what would have been a wide entrance forming what would have been Woodbridge haven, now with lower sea level the entrance is now much smaller. The open level land has been attractive to build on and the little village of Felixstowe Ferry has be precariously built.
The land is now protected with flood embankments and coastal structures to prevent the natural movement of the entrance and threat to the properties to flooding and loss.
To the north is Bawdsey Manor a big house on the opposite bank. Just to the north of this was one of the development sites for Radar during the 1939-1945 2nd World War.
Out to the sea there are shingle banks that have been created due to longshore drift and the effects of tidal currents. The long shore drift is caused by the action of the waves running up the beach diagonally and straight back down in a saw tooth patten pulling the shingle along with it. The tidal currents are caused but the filling up and draining of the deben as the tides flood and ebb, or rise and fall this movement of water creates currents that wash material along with the flow. The banks usually two are created by a combination of logshore drift and tidal currents.
The north knolls run parellel with the wider shore to the north. The sothern knolls lie perpendicular to the shore and are more influenced by the tidal currents from the river entrance.
However, this said the biggest influence is the weather and weather it has bee a stormy winter. They have been known to disperse entirely before.
The task in this cache is to visit the knolls at low tide and take a photo, and state the number of island banks there are at the entrance.
Please dont go right down to the waters edge as the shingle is loose and the currents can fast sweep you off your feet and out to sea keep a good distance from the sea.
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