Coastal Landscapes and Change EQ2 Flashcards
Where sediment picked up by breaking waves is thrown against the cliff face, chipping away at the rock
Abrasion
Collisions between already eroded sediment
Attrition
When water runs back down the beach under gravity
Backwash
The shape of a beach, including its width and slope (the beach profile) and the type of sediment found at different locations
Beach morphology
Low, surging waves, with a long wavelength, strong swash and weak backwash
Constructive waves
High, plunging waves, with a short wavelength, weak swash and strong backwash
Destructive waves
The balance within a system
Dynamic equilibrium
The breakdown of rock due to the action of some external force (wind, waves, ice flow) which then transports the eroded material to a new location
Erosion
The distance across water over which wind blows, and so the distance over which a wave has travelled
Fetch
Where clay particles clump together due to electrical or chemical attraction and become large enough to sink (important depositional process in salt marshes)
Flocculation
Occurs when the energy of transporting water becomes too low to move sediment
Gravity settling
When air is trapped or compressed inside joints and fissures by the force of water crashing against the cliff, and the pressure forces cracks open
Hydraulic action
The process of sediment moving along a coast when waves approach at an angle, creating drift-aligned coastlines
Longshore drift
The downslope movement of rock and soil
Mass movement
A cyclical sequence of events that damps down or neutralises the effects of a system, returning its state to equilibrium
Negative feedback
A cyclical sequence of events that amplifies or increases change
Positive feedback
Smaller and lighter rocks bounce along the seabed; wind also bounces sand along a beach
Saltation
Weak acids in the saltwater can dissolve chalk or limestone
Solution - transportation
The breakdown of rock due to weathering, and subsequent cliff collapse due to mass movement
Sub-aerial processes
Lighter sediment floats in the water
Suspension
The flow of water up a beach as a wave breaks
Swash
Relatively large and heavy rocks are rolled along the seabed
Traction
The in-situ breakdown of rocks by mechanical, chemical or biological agents; it does not involve any movement
Weathering
