1.a. Coastal landscapes can be viewed as systems. Flashcards
What is a system?
A set of interrelated objects comprising components (stores) and processes (links) that are connected together to form a working unit or a unified whole.
What is a scale?
Coastal landscape systems store and transfer energy and material on time scales that can vary from a few days to millennia.
What is an open system?
A type of system whose boundaries are open to both input and outputs of energy.
What is an input?
An addition of energy and/ or materials to a system.
What is an output?
The transfer of energy and/or materials out of a system.
What is kinetic energy?
(Energy Available to Coastal Landscapes)
The capacity to do work as a result of motion.
What is potential energy?
(Energy Available to Coastal Landscapes)
The capacity to do work that a body possesses by virtue of its position and that is potentially transformable into another form of energy.
What is thermal energy?
(Energy Available to Coastal Landscapes)
The capacity to do work as a result of heat.
What does energy allow, within coastal landscapes?
(Energy Available to Coastal Landscapes)
Enables work to be carried out by the natural geomorphic processes that shape the landscape.
Give an example of kinetic, thermal, and potential energy inputs to a coastal system.
(Energy Available to Coastal Landscapes)
Kinetic energy from wind and waves.
Thermal energy from the heat of the sun.
Potential energy from the position of material on slopes, material from marine deposition, weathering and mass movement from cliffs.
Give 2 examples of outputs to a coastal system.
(Energy Available to Coastal Landscapes)
Marine and wind erosion from beaches and rock surfaces.
Evaporation.
Give 2 examples of throughputs to a coastal system.
(Energy Available to Coastal Landscapes)
Stores, including beach and nearshore sediment accumulators.
Flows, the movement of sediment along a beach by longshore drift.
Outline how feedback loops work in coastal landscapes.
(System Feedback in Coastal Landscapes)
Equilibrium exists in a system when inputs and outputs are equal.
Positive feedback throws a systems equilibrium out of balance.
Positive feedback can trigger greater positive feedback within the system (a snowball effect), creating widespread change e.g. in the coastal system.
Natural systems are incredibly adaptable, undergoing negative feedback as a response.
Negative feedback is the changes a system undergoes in order to restore balance.
This creates a dynamic equilibrium, as the system has changed in order to compensate - not equilibrium, as the balance has been changed.
What is equilibrium? What would this look like in a coastal environment?
(System Feedback in Coastal Landscapes)
When a system’s inputs and outputs are equal.
An equal mean rate of sediment is being added and taken from the beach.
What is dynamic equilibrium?
(System Feedback in Coastal Landscapes)
Equilibrium that has been achieved through negative feedback, having moved to self-regulate.
