3.a. Emergent coastal landscapes form as sea level falls

Question 1

Eustatic changes

Answer 1

Changes in the volumes of water in the Global ocean store due to rise and f

Question 2

isostatic

Question 3

Emergent landforms

Answer 3

Landforms shaped by wave processes during times of high sea level are left
exposed when sea level falls.

Question 4

Raised beaches

Answer 4

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Raised Beaches
-Definition Raised beaches are areas of former shore platforms that now lie at a higher level than the present sea level.

-Formation: These beaches were exposed due to changes in sea level. During the Devensian Glacial period, eustatic changes lowered sea levels by 120 meters.

As the Holocene Interglacial began (around 10,000 years ago), global sea levels rapidly rose by 100 meters due to the melting of ice sheets and glaciers. However, the adjustment of ice-covered land was much slower.
- Features

• Relict Beach: A flat surface covered by sand or rounded pebbles/boulders, now above high tide level.
• Fossil Cliff: A steep slope found at the back of a raised beach, exhibiting evidence of marine erosion but now above high tide level. It may contain wave-cut notches, caves, and arches.
  • Example: The Isle of Arran has a raised beach 5 meters above the current sea level north of Drumadoon. Arran showcases three levels of raised beaches produced at different stages of post-glacial adjustment.

Question 5

Abandoned Cliff

Answer 5

2. Abandoned Cliffs:
   Behind the beach along emergent coastlines it is not
   uncommon to find abandoned cliffs with wave-cut notches, caves and even
   arches and stacks.
   
   • Definition: These cliffs are left above sea level, often behind shore platforms.
   • Formation: The episodic nature of isostatic recovery allows marine processes to erode cliffs and deposit beaches when sea levels are stable. A relatively rapid drop in sea level then leaves the coastline abandoned above high tide and some distance inland.
   • Example: Consider the Isle of Arran, where relict coastlines reveal abandoned cliffs.

Answer 6

Marine terraces are much larger scale landscape features
than raised beaches, which are quite small scale and localised at the base of
relic cliffs. Terraces do not necessarily have cliffs above them. Their
formation, however, is essentially the same as raised beaches – marine
erosion during a previous period of higher sea level

Question 7

emergent info

Answer 7

emergent landscapes form as sea level fall. landf

about 130, 00 years ago during the tyrrhenial inter-glacial period