Coastal landscape development

Question 1

Erosional landform examples

Answer 1

Wave cut platforms.
Caves, arches, stacks and stumps.

Question 2

Wave cut platform

Answer 2

High energy coastlines, hydraulic action and abrasion cause them.
Wave cut notch increased over time causing undercutting.
Gravity causes it to fall.

Question 3

Cave, arch and stack formation

Answer 3

Question 4

Depositional landforms

Answer 4

Occur at low-energy coastlines when waves do not have enough energy to carry a sediment load.
E.g. beaches, spits, tombolos, sand dunes, salt marshes.

Question 5

Beaches

Answer 5

Build up due to constructive waves at a low-energy coastline.

Question 6

Drift-aligned beach

Answer 6

Form where LSD moves the sediment along the beach as waves approach at an oblique angle.

Question 7

Swash-aligned beach

Answer 7

Low energy
Waves are parallel to the shore, and very little horizontal or lateral movement of sediment.

Question 8

Spit formation

Answer 8

Due to LSD.
Build up of sediment extending the coastline out to sea.

Question 9

Tombolo and bar

Answer 9

Tombolo is a spit that connects mainland to an island out at sea.
Bar is an extended spit formed due to LSD connecting two headlands.

Question 10

Barrier beach

Answer 10

When a bar forms across a headland, the water trapped behind is called a lagoon.

Question 11

Salt marshes

Answer 11

Behind spits and barrier beaches it is very sheltered.
Tidal and river currents meet leading to lots of deposition.
Salt tolerant species colonise these sheltered, flat areas.
Covered at high tide, exposed at low tide.

Question 12

Sand dunes

Answer 12

Formed due to large quantities of sand, a large tidal range and onshore prevailing winds.
Sand is trapped at back of beach and dunes develop.
Pioneer plant species hold the sand together.
Other plants develop in the dune ecosystem - plant succession.