3. Landforms and landscapes

Question 1

Rocky vs sandy coastlines

Answer 1

Rocky coastlines are dominated by erosion and sandy or estuarine coastlines by deposition.
Depositional environments tend to be lower energy, but a further critical control is sediment supply or budget. These coastlines have a surplus where the production and delivery of sediment exceeds rates of removal.
This emphasises the geographical linkages between areas of erosion (cliff inputs to the coastal zone) and areas of deposition to which eroded sediments are transported.
High energy coastal environments are characterised by erosion and high wave activity and have a sediment budget deficit has removal exceeds accumulation.

Question 2

High energy coastlines

Answer 2

Wave power is strong for a significant part of the year
Controlled by fetch and alignment of the coast
Strong winds generate the largest waves
Strong winds are common in areas with a cool maritime climate
Result in storm wave coast lines
East facing swell environments at low latitudes
A result of long fetch
In the UK the west coast is a higher energy coast line than the east
Due to fetch

Question 3

Low energy coast lines

Answer 3

Wave energy is lower in sheltered environments
For example, bays compared to headlands
A result of divergence of orthogonals in bays

Coastlines with a limited fetch are low energy coasts, for example the east coast of Britain

Sheltered seas like the Mediterranean and Baltic have a limited tidal range and a low energy sheltered environment