Coastal Erosion Landforms Flashcards
What is a landform?
A feature of the landscape that has been formed or sculpted by the processes of erosion, transportation and deposition.
What is erosion?
Wearing away and removal of material by a moving force, such as a breaking wave.
What is transportation?
The movement of eroded sediment.
What is deposition?
When material being transported by the sea is dropped due to the sea losing energy.
What is it called when material being transported by the sea is dropped due to the sea losing energy?
Deposition.
What is a feature that has been formed by the processes of erosion, transportation and deposition?
A landform.
What is the wearing away and removal of material by a moving force, such as a breaking wave.
Erosion.
What is the movement of eroded sediment?
Transportation.
What factors influence coastal landforms?
Geology and the geological structure.
How does geology influence coastal landforms?
Some rocks are tougher and more resistant than others.
How does the geological structure influence coastal landforms?
The layers of rock are folded or tilted.
What are the features of hard rock?
It is more resistant, impermeable and erodes about 20mm per year.
What type of rock is more resistant, impermeable and erodes about 20mm per year?
Hard rock.
What are the features of soft rock?
Less resistant, erodes about 20cm per year and is permeable.
What type of rock is less resistant, permeable and erodes about 20cm per year?
Soft rock.
Name three examples of hard rock.
Granite, chalk and limestone.
Name two examples of soft rock.
Clay and sandstone.
What type of rock is granite, chalk and limestone?
Hard rock.
What type of rock is clay and sandstone?
Soft rock.
What are faults?
Horizontal cracks in the rock.
What are horizontal cracks in the rock?
Faults.
What are joints?
A vertical crack within a layer of rock.
What are vertical crack within a layer of rock?
Joints.
What is a bedding plane?
The surface between two layers of sedimentary rock.
What is the surface between two layers of sedimentary rock?
A bedding plane.
Why will rocks with more faults and joints erode faster?
They have more lines of weakness.
What are strata?
Layers of rock.
Name both types of coastline.
Concordant and discordant coastlines.
What are discordant coastlines?
Coastlines where the geology alternates between strata (or bands) of hard rock and soft rock that are perpendicular to the coast.
What are concordant coastlines?
The same type of rock along its length that runs parallel to the coast, with a different type of rock behind it.
Give an example of a concordant coastline.
Dorset.
Give an example of a discordant coastline.
Holderness coastline.
Give the first step of the formation of headlands and bays.
Firstly the coastline’s headlands and bays are formed as it is a discordant coastline with alternating bands of harder and softer rock.
Give the second step of the formation of headlands and bays.
Both bands of harder and softer rock are eroded by hydraulic action (air is trapped into the cracks and pores, causing pressure to build, breaking the rock) and abrasion (grinding of rock against the base of the cliff).
Give the third step of the formation of headlands and bays.
Softer rocks are eroded first because they are less resistant so erode at a faster rate, creating bays.
Give the last step of the formation of headlands and bays.
Harder rocks are eroded second, because they are more resistant so erode at a slower rate, creating headlands that are left jutting out in the sea, vulnerable to further erosion.
