Coastal Definitions

Question 1

Altitude

Answer 1

Height above sea level normally given in metres

Question 2

Arches

Answer 2

A wave eroded passage through small headland. Begins as cave formed in the headland, which is widened gradually and deepened until it cuts through

Question 3

Beach nourishment

Answer 3

Addition of new materials artificially to a beach (usually through dumping large amounts of sand/shingle)

Question 4

Coastal defences

Answer 4

Natural/manufactured management strategies to try and maintain land and sea boundaries that reduce erosion impact

Question 5

Coastal landforms

Answer 5

Large features in coastal areas that are formed through deposition/erosion

Question 6

Constructive wave

Answer 6

Strong swash, weak backwash

Question 7

Destructive wave

Answer 7

Strong backwash, weak swash

Question 8

Abrasion/Corrosion

Answer 8

Erosion occurs when wave hits the coast and throws small pebbles against cliff face causing undercutting from knocking small parts off cliff

Question 9

Erosion

Answer 9

Wearing away of landscape by action of ice, water and wind

Question 10

Gabions (hard engineering)

Answer 10

Metal cages filled with rocks that form a sea defence structure or placed along rivers to protect banks from erosion

Question 11

Groynes (hard engineering)

Answer 11

Wooden barriers built into the sea to stop longshore drift of sand/shingle, and causes the beach to grow. Used to build beaches to protect it from cliff erosion and provide an important tourist amenity. However by trapping sediment it deprives down drift of new beach material

Question 12

Hydraulic action

Answer 12

Soft rocks are washed away by sea. Air trapped in cracks by force of water can widen cracks causing sections of cliff to break away from cliff face

Question 13

Longshore drift

Answer 13

Beach material moves along coastline, caused by waves hitting the coast at an angle

Question 14

Sandy beach (coastal landform)

Answer 14

Caused by deposition consisting mostly of tiny mineral particles and has a shallow gradient

Question 15

Sea Walls (hard engineering)

Answer 15

Curved concrete structures placed along sea front. Often in urban areas such as the front of a promenade designed to reflect wave energy

Question 16

Spit

Answer 16

A deposition at landform formed when a finger of sediment extends from shore out to sea, often at a river mouth caused by transport process of longshore drift

Question 17

Stacks

Answer 17

natural features of eroded cliff landscape that appear like large, free standing sections of coastline. Stacks are formed when sea arch collapses

Question 18

Transportation

Answer 18

Movement of material across the Earth’s surface

Question 19

Wave cut platform

Answer 19

Flat area along base of a cliff produced by retreat of cliff as a result of erosive process

Question 20

Soft engineering methods

Answer 20

Strategy to control natural hazards which blends into surrounding environments that is usually sustainable

Question 21

Hard Engineering methods

Answer 21

Strategies to control a natural hazard that does not blend into surrounding environment and is usually not sustainable