Coastal Landscapes and Change EQ1 Flashcards
Natural breaks in the strata
Bedding planes
The height and angle of a cliff face as well as its features, such as wave-cut notches or changes in slope angle
Cliff profile
The deposition of sediment at the coast and the seaward growth of the coastline, creating new land
Coastal accretion
The land gradually slopes towards the sea across an area of deposited sediment e.g. sand dunes or mud flats; usually found in low energy coastlines
Coastal plains (alluvial coasts)
When rock strata run parallel to the coastline
Concordant coastlines
The angle at which the rock strata lie
Dip
When different resistant rock strata intersect the coast at an angle
Discordant coastline
The balanced state of a system when inputs and outputs balance over time
Dynamic equilibrium
Where the coasts are rising relative to sea level e.g. due to tectonic uplift
Emergent coasts
Major fractures in rocks produced by tectonic forces and involving the displacement of rocks on either side of the faultline
Faults
The arrangement of rocks in three dimensions - strata, deformation and faulting
Geological structure
Plants that can tolerate salt water
Halophyte
Exposed coasts facing prevailing winds with long wave fetches resulting in powerful waves
High energy coastlines
Where material such as sand, gravel and clay have been compacted under pressure and turned to rock
Lithification
The characteristics of the rock (rock type and resistance, porosity, permeability, presence of fissures, joints and bedding planes etc)
Lithology
The wider coastal zone including adjacent land areas and shallow parts of the sea just offshore
Littoral zone
Sheltered coasts with limited fetch and low wind speeds resulting in small waves
Low energy coastlines
The changing structure of a plant community over time as an area of initially bare sediment is colonised by plants
Plant succession
The pressure water experiences at a particular point below the water table due to the weight of water above it
Pore water pressure
Dominated by land-based processes such as deposition from rivers or new land from lava flows
Primary coasts
Resistant rocks, with cliffs varying in height from a few metres to hundreds of metres; usually found in high energy environments
Rocky coastlines
Dominated by marine erosion or deposition processes from the sea
Secondary coasts
Where coasts are being flooded by the sea, either due to rising sea levels and/or subsiding land
Submergent coasts
Material such as sand, gravel, clay and silt that has not been compacted and cemented to become sedimentary rock
Unconsolidated sediment
The bending of waves around a headland
Wave refraction
Plants that can tolerate very dry conditions
Xerophyte
