AQA GCSE - Coasts

Question 1

How do waves form?

Answer 1

• By wind blowing over the sea.
• Friction with the surface of the water causes ripples that develop into waves.
• Tsunamis form when earthquakes or volcanic eruptions shake the sea bed.

Question 2

What is fetch?

Answer 2

The distance that wave-generating winds blow across the water.

Question 3

REMEMBER!!!

Answer 3

The longer the fetch, the bigger the wave.

Question 4

What are the two types of waves?

Answer 4

Constructive waves and Destructive waves

Question 5

Constructive Waves

Answer 5

Formed by storms often hundreds of kilometers away. Common in summer.

Question 6

Destructive Waves

Answer 6

Formed by local storms close to the coast. Common in winter.

Question 7

Why do cliffs collapse?

Answer 7

Because of weathering - the weakening or decay of rock due to action of weather, plant and animals.

Question 8

Types of weathering

Answer 8

1. Mechanical (physical)
2. Chemical
3. Bilogical

Question 9

Mechanical weathering

Answer 9

the disintergration of rock e.g. freeze-thaw

Question 10

Chemical weathering

Answer 10

caused by chemical changes. e.g. carbination

Question 11

Biological weathering

Answer 11

caused by the actions of flora and fauna, e.g. plant roots grow in cracks in rocks, and animals (e.g. bunnies) burrow into weak rocks.

Question 12

What is mass movement?

Answer 12

the doward movement (sliding) of weathered material and rock under the infulence of gravity.

Question 13

What are the four types of mass movement?

Answer 13

1. Rockfall
2. Landslide
3. Mudflow
4. Rotational slip

Question 14

Rockfall

Answer 14

rock breaks away often due to freeze-thaw (MECHANICAL)

Question 15

Landslide

Answer 15

blocks of rock sliding downhill (BIOLOGICAL)

Question 16

Mudflow

Answer 16

saturated soil and weak rocks flow downhill (BIOLOGICAL)

Question 17

Rotational slip

Answer 17

slump of saturated soil and weak rock along a curved surface (CHEMICAL)

Question 18

What is coastal erosion?

Answer 18

transport of material away from the coast line.

Question 19

What are the five types of coasta erosion?

Answer 19

1. Solution
2. Corrasion
3. Abrasion
4. Attrition
5. Hydrolic Power

Question 20

Solution

Answer 20

Dissolving of soluble chemicals in rock, e.g. limestone.

Question 21

Corrasion

Answer 21

Rock fragments picked up by the sea and thrown at the cliff, scrape and wear away at the cliff.

Question 22

Abrasion

Answer 22

The ‘sandpapering’ effect of the pebbles griding over a rocky platform.

Question 23

Attrition

Answer 23

Rock fragments carried by the sea knock against each ther becoming smaller/more rounded.

Question 24

Hydraulic Power

Answer 24

The power of the waves as they hit a cliff. Trapped air is forced into cracks in the rock eventually causing it to break up.

Question 25

Desposition

Answer 25

happens when water slows down and waves lose their energy.

Question 26

How is sediment transported?

Answer 26

Sediment transport occurs in four different ways, solution, suspesion, traction, saltation.

Question 27

Solution

Answer 27

dissolved chemicals often derived from limestone or chalk.

Question 28

Suspension

Answer 28

particles carried (suspended) within the water.

Question 29

Traction

Answer 29

large pebbles rolled along the seabed.

Question 30

Saltation

Answer 30

a ‘hopping’ or ‘bouncing’ motion of particles too heavy to be suspended.

Question 31

Longshore drift

Answer 31

The movement of sediment depends on the direction that waves approach the coast, as a result of the prevailing wind direction.

Question 32

Swash

Answer 32

sediment is carried up the beach.

Question 33

Backwash

Answer 33

sediment is the carried back down the beach.

Question 34

Headlands

Answer 34

Tougher, resistant bands of rock are eroded slowly.

Question 35

Bays

Answer 35

Weaker rock erodes more easily.