4.3: Distinctive Coastal Landscapes Are Influenced By Geology Interacting With Physical Processes

Question 1

What is the difference in rock type in concordant and discordant coastlines ?

Answer 1

Discordant coastlines : Resistant sandstone and soft limestone
Concordant coastlines : Resistant limestone and less resistant sands

Question 2

What landforms could you find at a concordant coastline ?

Answer 2

Coves can form if water breaks through the resistant limestone to quickly eroded sands

Question 3

What landforms could you find at a discordant coastline ?

Answer 3

Alternating headlands and bays form

Question 4

What is the difference in rock strata alignment in both concordant and discordant coastlines ?

Answer 4

Discordant coastlines face at right angles to the coast whereas concordant coastlines have strata facing parallel to the coast

Question 5

What are faults and joints ?

Answer 5

Faults are large cracks caused by past tectonic movement, where rocks have moved.

Joints are small, usually vertical, cracks found in many rocks

Question 6

What effect does wind strength have on a wave ?

Answer 6

The stronger the wind the more friction between the water and air causing a bigger wave

Question 7

What effect does fetch have on a wave ?

Answer 7

The longer the fetch the longer period of time a wave has had to accumulate power

Question 8

What effect does the season have on a wave ?

Answer 8

Waves are strongest in winter because the prevailing winds are from the south west, so coastlines facing this way shall feel the full force of the storms

Question 9

What are the two types of mass movement and how do they work ?

Answer 9

Rotational slumping is when rain accumulates and lubricates the boundary between 2 different types of rock. The permeable sediment becomes saturated and will dramatically slump.

Rock slides are when joints/bedding planes that are aligned diagonally to the sea are eroded at the base, causing instability. This allows layers of rock to slide down the cliff diagonally into the sea.

Question 10

What are destructive and constructive waves ?

Answer 10

Destructive waves are waves that have stronger backwash than swash, meaning it removes sediment from the beach (erosion).

Constructive waves are waves that have a stronger swash than backwash, meaning it adds sediment to the beach (deposition).