Classifying Coasts

Question 1

Define ‘strata’

Answer 1

Layers of rock

Question 2

Define ‘bedding planes’

Answer 2

Horizontal cracks which are natural breaks in the strata caused by gaps in time during periods of rock formation

Question 3

Define ‘joints’

Answer 3

Vertical cracks caused by contraction as sediments dry out or earth movements during uplift

Question 4

Define ‘folds’

Answer 4

Formed by pressure during tectonic activity which makes rocks buckle and crumple

Question 5

Define ‘faults’

Answer 5

Formed when the stress or pressure to which a rock is subjected exceeds its internal strength causing it to fracture, the faults then moves along fault planes

Question 6

Define ‘dip’

Answer 6

This refers to the angle at which strata lie (horizontally, vertically, towards/ away from the sea)

Question 7

Explain what a sediment cell is

Answer 7

Areas along the coastline where the movement of material is largely self-contained (closed coastal sub system) often determined by the topography and shape of the coastline tending to be between headlands and peninsulas which act as barriers of sediment movement

Question 8

What is significant about the cliffs at the wash sediment cell?

Answer 8

Sandstone retreating at 1m/yr

Question 9

Name four ways in which a coast can be classified

Answer 9

• Geology
• Energy
• Balance
• Changes in sea level

Question 10

What five factors does the morphology of the coast depend on?

Answer 10

• Lithology
• Relief
• Rock type
• Permeability
• Resistance to erosion

Question 11

Define ‘coastal morphology’

Answer 11

Shape and form of coastal landscapes and their features

Question 12

Define ‘lithology’

Answer 12

The physical characteristics of rocks including strata, folds, bedding planes, faults, joints and dips

Question 13

Sediment is sourced by (1) as part of a (2) cell which is then transported and deposited to form (3)

Answer 13

Weathering and erosion
Littoral
Coastal landforms

Question 14

The Wash sediment cell:
Main source of sediment is (1) at West (2) to the (3) of the wash, the sandstone cliffs are retreating at (4) some sediment comes from (5) which pick up (6) from the (7) sea floor

Answer 14

Cliff erosion
Runton
East
1m/yr
Tidal currents
Glacial deposits
Shallow

Question 15

The wash sediment cell:

Erosion of the (1) cliffs to the north carried south in (2) to the (3) coast, (4) rivers discharge into the wash

Answer 15

Holderness
Suspension
Lincolnshire
Four

Question 16

Name the four inputs

Answer 16

• Marine (waves, tides and storm surges)
• Atmospheric (weather, climate, climate change and solar energy)
• Land (rock type, structure and tectonic activity)
• People (human activity and coastal management)

Question 17

Name the five processes

Answer 17

Weathering 
Mass movement 
Erosion
Transport
Deposition

Question 18

Name the three outputs

Answer 18

Erosional landforms
Depositional landforms
Types of coasts

Question 19

Define and describe the ‘littoral zone’

Answer 19

The area between the land and the sea, it is a zone rather than a line because tides and storms affect a band around the coast and constantly changing because of the dynamic interaction between processes operating in the sea and on land

Question 20

Valentin coasts classification (1952)
A (1) type design with (2) coast on the right and (3) on the left, as well as ‘coast (4)’ on the top left and bottom right at the top is labelled (5) and the bottom (6)

Answer 20

Wheel
Advancing
Retracting
Stationary
Emergence
Submergence

Question 21

Valentin coasts classification (1952)

Answer 21

Insert pic