1.a. Coastal landscapes can be viewed as systems

Question 1

What is a landscape

Answer 1

The visible features (landforms) of an area of the Earth’s surface

Question 2

What is a system

Answer 2

A group of objects and the relationships between them

Question 3

What does kinetic mean

Answer 3

The capacity to do work as a result of motion

Question 4

What does potential mean

Answer 4

The capacity to do work that a body possesses by virtue of its position and that is potentially transformable into another form of energy

Question 5

What does thermal mean

Answer 5

The capacity to do work as a result of heat

Question 6

What does geomorphic mean

Answer 6

Relating to the formation and shaping of landforms and landscapes by natural processes

Question 7

What is a nearshore zone

Answer 7

This is the area of coastal environment between mean high tide and mean low tide

Question 8

What is an open system

Answer 8

This is a type of system whose boundaries are open to both inputs and outputs of energy and matter

Question 9

What is an input

Answer 9

This is an addition of material and/or energy to a system

Question 10

What is an output

Answer 10

The transfer of material and/or energy out of a system

Question 11

What is deposition

Answer 11

The laying down of sediment trasnported by rivers, waves, glaciers and wind, as energy levels decline

Question 12

What is weathering

Answer 12

The breakdown of rocks exposed at, or near, the land surface by physical, checmical and biological processes

Question 13

What is mass movement

Answer 13

The downslope transportation of material under gravity

Question 14

What is erosion

Answer 14

The weathering away and/or removal of rock and other material by a moving force

Question 15

What is evaporation

Answer 15

The process by which liquid water is converted into a gaseous state

Question 16

What is longshore drift

Answer 16

The movement of sediment by waves and currents along a coastline

Question 17

What is equilibrium

Answer 17

A long term balance between the inputs and outputs of a system

Question 18

What is dynamic equilibrium

Answer 18

A system displaying unrepeated average states through time

Question 19

What is negative feedback

Answer 19

An automatic response to change in a system that restores equilibrium

Question 20

What is a sediment cell

Answer 20

A stretch of coastline and its associated nearshore area within which the movement of sediment, sand and shingle is largely self-contained

Question 21

What is a closed system

Answer 21

A system with inputs and outputs of energy, but without any movement of material across system boundaries

Question 22

Is the coast an open or closed system?

Answer 22

The coast is an open system, meaning that energy and mateter can cross the boundary of the system to the surrounding environment. The coast is shaped by a comination of kinectic, potential and thermal energy which allows for geomorphic processes to take place and shape coastal landscapes.

Question 23

Where is the majority of material found in coastal landscapes

Answer 23

Beaches, estuaries and in the shallow nearshore zone

Question 24

What are the components of open sustems

Answer 24

Inputs (wind, waves, thermal and sediment), Stores (beaches and nearshore sediment), Throughputs-transfers (longshore drift), Outputs (marine and wind erosion)

Question 25

What happens when a systems inputs and outputs are equal

Answer 25

When a systems inputs and outputs are equal, it is in a state of equilibrium. However coasts are dynamic and the equilibrium is often disturbed, resulting in dynamic equilibrium

Question 26

What happens when changes affect the balance of the system

Answer 26

The system adjusts by a process of feedback, which can either be positive (an initial change brining about further change in the same direction) or negative (the system is returned to its normal functioning). In coasts, a change may be landslides, storms or human activity

Question 27

How many sediment cells are there in England and Wales

Answer 27

11!

Question 28

What are sub-cells

Answer 28

Sub cells are part of a larger cell e.g. the Flamborough Head-Humber Estuary cell is part of the larger Flamborough Head-The Wash cell

Question 29

Are sediment cells open or closed systems

Answer 29

Sediment cells are regarded as closed systems however it’s unlikely they’re truly closed systems. This is because variations in wind direction and tidal currentts will move sediment between the different cells

Question 30

Name two exaples of sediment cells

Answer 30

Land’s end-prevent sediment from being transferred to an ajoining cell (natural barrier). The Thames-key input of sediment into the two cells in separates