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Physical Geography - P1 > Coastal Landscapes and Change EQ1 > Flashcards

Coastal Landscapes and Change EQ1 Flashcards

1
Q

what are the sections of the littoral zone?

A

backshore, foreshore, nearshore, offshore

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2
Q

what is the coast as a system driven by?

A

wave energy

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3
Q

what are the categories of inputs into the coast as a system?

A
  • Marine
  • Atmospheric
  • Land
  • People
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4
Q

what are the marine inputs into the coastal system?

A

waves, tides, storm surges

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5
Q

what are the atmospheric inputs into the coastal system?

A

weather/climate, climate change, solar energy

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6
Q

what are the land inputs into the coastal system?

A

rock type and structure, tectonic activity

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7
Q

what are the people inputs into the coastal system?

A

human activity, coastal management

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8
Q

what are the processes of the coastal system?

A
  • Weathering
  • Mass Movement
  • Erosion
  • Transport
  • Deposition
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9
Q

what are the outputs of the coastal system?

A
  • Erosional landforms
  • Depositional landforms
  • Different types of coasts
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10
Q

what kind of zone is the littoral zone?

A

‘dynamic zone of rapid change’

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11
Q

define offshore

A

The area of deeper water beyond the point at which waves begin to break.

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12
Q

what does friction do to wave shape in the offshore zone?

A

Friction between the waves and the sea bed may cause some distortion of the wave shape.

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13
Q

define nearshore

A

The area of shallow water beyond the low tide mark

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14
Q

what does friction do to wave shape in the nearshore zone?

A

friction between the seabed and waves distorts the wave sufficiently to cause it to break. (breaker zone)

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15
Q

what kind of bar may there be between the offshore and nearshore zones?

A

breakpoint bar

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16
Q

define foreshore

A

The area between the high tide and the low tide mark.

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17
Q

what does the littoral zone vary because of ?

A

short term factors & long term factors

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18
Q

define backshore

A

The area above the high tide mark, affected by wave action only during major storm events.

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18
Q

what short term factors may cause the littoral zone to vary?

A

individual waves, daily tides and seasonal storms

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19
Q

what long term factors may cause the littoral zone to vary?

A

changes to sea level or climate change

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20
Q

what are the three types of coastal landscapes (coastlines) the littoral zone forms?

A

rocky, sandy and estuarine

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21
Q

describe the relief of rocky, cliffed coastlines

A
  • areas of high relief - varying from a few meters to hundreds of meters in height
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22
Q

describe the relief of sandy coastlines

A

areas of low relief - with sand dunes and beaches that are mush flatter

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23
Q

describe the relief of estuarine coastlines

A

areas of low relief - with salt marshes and mudflats (estuaries)

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24
Q

what areas do rocky coastlines typically form in?

A
  • areas with resistant geology, - in a high energy environment,
  • where erosion is greater than deposition and big,
  • stormy & destructive waves
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25
Q

what areas do sandy coastlines typically form in?

A
  • areas with less resistant geology,
  • a low energy environment,
  • where deposition is greater than erosion,
  • usually in areas of less resistant rock
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26
Q

what areas do estuarine coastlines typically form in?

A
  • in river mouths,
  • where deposition is greater than erosion,
  • in a low energy environment,
  • usually in areas of less resistant rock
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27
Q

what areas of the littoral zone are areas where the greatest human activity occur?

A

backshore and foreshore

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28
Q

why is the littoral zone constantly changing?

A

because of the dynamic interaction between the processes operating in the seas, oceans and on land

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28
Q

what long term criteria can be used of classify coasts?

A
  • geology,
  • sea level change
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29
Q

what is meant by geology?

A

all the characteristics of land, including lithology and structure

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30
Q

how can geology be used to classify coasts?

A
  • as rocky, sandy or estuarine
  • or as concordant and discordant
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31
Q

how can sea level change be used to classify coasts?

A

as emergent or submergent

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32
Q

what may sea level change be caused by?

A

tectonic processes or climate change

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33
Q

how can energy inputs be used to classify coasts?

A

as high or low energy coasts

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34
Q

how can sediment inputs be used to classify coasts?

A

creating either erosional or depositional coasts

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35
Q

how do tectonic processes cause sea level change?

A

can lift land up, causing local sea fall, or lead sections of land to subside - causing local sea rise

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36
Q

how does climate change cause sea level change?

A
  • causes sea levels to rise and fall in a 100,000 year cycle due to the change in the Earth’s orbit shape.
  • sea levels fall for 90,000 years during glacials as ice sheets expand and rise for 10,000 during interglacials
  • sea levels rise even more when the Earth emerges from an ice age and all surface ice melts
37
Q

describe sea levels during glacial periods

A

fall for 90,000 years

38
Q

describe sea levels during interglacial period

A
  • ice sheets expand and rise for 10,000 years
  • sea levels rise even more when the Earth emerges from an ice age and all surface ice melts
39
Q

what short term criteria can be used to classify coasts?

A
  • energy inputs,
  • sediment inputs
40
Q

when are coastlines classified as advancing or retreating?

A

long term processes (emergent/submergent) and short term (outbuilding/eroding)

41
Q

complete the sentence
rocky coasts occupy about ____________

A

1,000 km of UK coastline, mainly in the north and west

42
Q

describe the cliff that can be used as an example of a cliff in a high relief area?

A

427 m Conachair Cliff on the Isle of Hirta in the Outer Hebrides

43
Q

describe the cliff that can be used as an example of a cliff in a low relief area?

A

3m cliffs at Chapel Porth in Cornwall

44
Q

what type of areas do rocky coasts usually form in?

A
  • areas of geology that is resistant to the erosive forces of the sea, rain and wind
  • their lithology and structure means they erode and weather slowly
45
Q

what environments do rocky coastlines form in?

A
  • high-energy environment where erosion > deposition
  • Erosion is continuously moving transported and deposited sediment as well as slowly eroding the cliff.
46
Q

describe a coastal plain landscape

A

relatively flat, low relief areas adjacent to the sea.

47
Q

what do coastal plain landscapes typically contain?

A

freshwater wetlands and marshes due to the poor drainage of the flat landscape

48
Q

what is the littoral zone of a coastal plain landscape composed of?

A

sand dunes, beaches, mud flats and salt marshes

49
Q

what environments do coastal plain landscapes form in?

A
  • low-energy environments where deposition > erosion,
  • so they experience a net accumulation of sediment.
50
Q

what could coastal plain landscapes form through?

A
  • typically coastal accretion
  • also by sea level change
51
Q

what is coastal accretion?

A

a continuous net deposition of sediment

52
Q

what does coastal accretion (a continuous net deposition of sediment) come from?

A
  • offshore sources (transported by waves, tides or current)
  • terrestrial sources (transported by rivers, glaciers, wind or mass movement)
53
Q

what may coastal plains be?

A
  1. sandy coasts, composed of sands, shingles and cobbles.
  2. estuarine (alluvial) coasts composed of mud (clays and silts)
54
Q

where along the UKs coastline do coastal plains form most of?

A

the UK’s south and east coastline.

55
Q

how do coastal plains form through coastal accretion?

A
  • where continuous net deposition causes the coastline to extend seawards
  • This is often extended biologically as plants colonise shallow water, trapping sediment and forming organic deposits when they die.
56
Q

how do coastal plains form through sea level change?

A

when the falling sea level exposes a flat continental shelf

57
Q

name an example of a coastal plain formed by sea level change

A

e.g. the Atlantic coastline of the USA.

58
Q

rocky coasts are generally found in high energy environments, where in the UK do these tend to be?

A

stretches of the Atlantic-facing coast, where waves are powerful for much of the year
eg Cornwall or north-western Scotland

59
Q

sandy an estuarine coasts are generally found in low energy environments, where in the UK do these tend to be?

A

stretches of the coast where the waves are less powerful or where the coast is sheltered from large waves
eg Lincolnshire and Northumberland

60
Q

complete the sentence:
______________________ is responsible for the formation of concordant and discordant coast

A

geological structure

61
Q

where do concordant coasts usually form?

A

where rock strata or folds run parallel to the coast

62
Q

where do discordant coasts usually form?

A

where rock strata or structures are aligned at an angle to the coastline

63
Q

describe features of concordant coastlines

A

Some concordant coasts have long, narrow islands running parallel to the coastline.

64
Q

describe features of discordant coastlines

A

Discordant coasts have a crenellated pattern of projecting headlands and indented bays

65
Q

what are concordant coastlines also known as?

A

Dalmatian coasts

66
Q

what are discordant coastlines also known as?

A

Atlantic coasts

67
Q

what is geological structure?

A

the characteristics and arrangement of rock units

68
Q

what are strata?

A

layers of rock

69
Q

what is a bedding plane?

A

the interface between two sedimentary strata. Bonding between rocks either side of the plane is weaker than bonding within strata.

70
Q

what is deformation?

A

the degree of tilting of folding of rock.

71
Q

what is dip?

A

the angle at which strata lie

72
Q

what is faulting?

A

the fracturing of rock with movement from its original position.

73
Q

what is a joint?

A

a fracture of rock without movement from the original position

74
Q

what is morphology?

A

the shape of landscape features

75
Q

what is morphology influenced by?

A

geological structure (headlands and bays for discordant, Dalmatian and Haff for concordant).

76
Q

what are the case studies for concordant coastlines?

A
  • the dalmatian coast of Croatia
  • the South Dorset Coast
  • Haff Coastline
77
Q

what is the case study for discordant coastlines?

A
  • Swanage bay
  • Bantry bay
78
Q

describe the south Dorset coast

A
  • A concordant coastline with resistant Portland Limestone forming a protective stratum parallel to the sea.
  • Less resistant Purbeck limestone and Wealden Clay lie behind the Portland, with resistant chalk further north.
79
Q

describe the erosion that takes place on the South Dorset Coast

A
  • Portland limestone erodes very slowly, retreating landwards by marine undercutting and collapse to form a straight W-E coastline.
  • At points where the Portland is weaker, erosion has broken through and then rapidly eroded out the softer strata laterally, creating a series of coves, e.g. Lulworth Cove and Stair Hole, with narrow openings, widening laterally parallel to the coast.
80
Q

what has happened in places such as Worbarrow Bay and St Oswald’s Bay, as a result of erosion on the South Dorset Coast?

A
  • lateral widening of coves led to them joining into a single bay, with remnants of the outer Portland left as a line of stumps parallel to the coast,
  • e.g. Bull’s Head in St Oswald’s Bay.
81
Q

what is the ultimate stage of the erosion on the South Dorset Coast?

A

straight coastline now formed by a concordant band of constant chalk

82
Q

where is the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia located?

A

on the Adriatic sea

83
Q

describe the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia

A

A concordant coastline produced by the geological structure of folds parallel to the coast.

84
Q

Explain how tectonic forces shaped the Dalmatian Coat of Croatia

A
  • Tectonic forces produced by the collision of African and Eurasian plates compressed Carboniferous Limestone during the Alpine Orogeny 50 million years ago.
  • Created up folded ridges (anticlines) and down folded valleys (synclines) aligned parallel to the coast.
85
Q

when did the tectonic forces compress Carboniferous Limestone?

A

during the Alpine Orogeny 50 million years ago

86
Q

What are anticlines?

A

up folded ridges

87
Q

what are synclines?

A

down folded valleys

88
Q

what did Sea level rise at the end of the Devensian Glacial do?

A

overtopped the low points of the anticlines and the sea flooded synclines.

89
Q

on the Dalmatioan Coast of Croatia, sea levels rose at the end of the Devensian Glacial, what did this produce?

A
  • lines of narrow islands parallel to the coast formed by projecting sections of anticlines.
  • Lines of islands separated by narrow sea channels parallel to the coast
90
Q

where do haff coastlines form?

A

where deposition produces unconsolidated geological structures parallel to the coastline.

91
Q

describe sea levels during the Devensian glacial

A

about 100 m lower than today as water was retained in huge ice sheets.

92
Q
A

Physical Geography - P1 (17 decks)

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