coastal landforms: Flashcards
Define ‘landscape’
visible features in an area
- natural elements (mountains)
- living elements
(vegetation)
- changeable elements
(weather)
- human elements
(infrastructure)
Landform
The morphology of the land’s surface that results for interaction of physical processes e.g fluvial (water), wind, glacial action, weathering and tectonic movement.
What are the 3 types of coastal landforms?
Wave dominated
Tide dominated
Wind dominated
Can you give some tide dominated landforms please?
Mudflats
Sandflats
saltmarshes
Mangroves
Deltas
What is a wind dominated landform?
SAND DUNES!
Wave dominated landforms:
Cliffs
Spits
Tombolos
Deltas
Shore platforms
Outline a high energy system
Outline a low energy system
High energy = erosion outweighs deposition.
Low energy = deposition outweighs erosion.
Give some destructive land forms
Caves, wave cut platforms, stacks, stumps (old Harry Rocks!)
Give some constructive land forms
spits, bars, sand dunes, salt marshes.
What are the 4 key sections of the littoral zone?
Offshore, nearshore, foreshore and backshore.
Give an example of a dynamic coastal environment
Mudflats
Their dynamic equilibrium can be changed via:
sea level, wave action, river discharge, tides.
Outline mudflats - what are they?
Where do they form?
Found in estuaries
Sediment particles clump together (flocculation)
Causes sediment to settle
Mudflats revealed when tide goes out.
Give an example of a mud flat
Morecambe Bay, northwest England.
What are geomorphological processes?
weathering, mass movement, erosion, transportation and deposition
What is flocculation?
When sediment particles clump together. Their combined weight causes them to settle.
