Coastal environment

Question 1

Describe the Holderness Coast (case study)

Answer 1

Very big fetch and a soft rock coast made errosion of the coast extremely high. At Mappleton they built a rock groyne to protect the town, which stopped longshore drift and allowed the beach to stand up. However, low value land which was owned by farmers was eroded 10 times more, which lead to a conflict

Question 2

Mass Movement is…

Answer 2

collapse of rocks under the influence of gravity.

Question 3

Types of Mass Movement

Answer 3

1) Hard rock: Sub-aerial processes (such as weathering) slowly eroded the joints, which then collapsed.
2) Soft rock: Soft rock soak in all water from weathering and become mud. Slumping occurs, which means that mud slide down because of gravity.

Question 4

Coastal deposition is…

Answer 4

occurs when the swash is greater than the backwash, so sediment is deposited when energy is lost.

Question 5

Fetch is…

Answer 5

the distance over which the wind travels creating waves.

Question 6

Desctructive waves -

Answer 6

caused by large fetch. It has a weak swash but strong backwash. Waves are taller and more frequent.

Question 7

Constructive waves -

Answer 7

caused by small fetch. It has a strong swash up the beach and weak backwash. It has a small height and low frequency.

Question 8

Landform is…

Answer 8

the shape of feature on the coast.

Question 9

Types of coasts

Answer 9

1) Concordant coast - one rock type is exposed to the sea

2) Discordant coast - all rock types are exposed to the sea

Question 10

Landforms formed by sea level change

Answer 10

1) Submerged (sea level goes up):
- Fjord - formed when a glacier retreats, after caving its typical U-shaped valley, and the sea fills the resulting valley floor.
- Ria - river eroded a valley and the sea level increased

2) Emergent (sea level goes down)
- Rased beaches - sea eroded sea caves and created a beach but then the sea level dropped and the waves eroded a new cliff and deposited sediment on a new beach.
- Wave cut platform - flat rock surface created by cliff retreatment.

Question 11

Reasons for sea level change

Answer 11

1) Melting of glacier

2) Thermal expansion - when the ocean heats up, the dissolved gases in it expand and sea level increase

Question 12

Transport processes

Answer 12

1) Traction - pebbles roll or slide along the sea bed
2) Saltation - grains of sand jump up the beach
3) Suspension - small pebbles of sand or clay are held in the sea
4) Solution - CaCo3 remains dissolved