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Geography > Coastal landscapes and processes > Flashcards

Coastal landscapes and processes Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the three types of weathering?

A
  1. Mechanical weathering
  2. Biological weathering
  3. Chemical weathering
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2
Q

What is mechanical weathering?

A
  1. Mechanical weathering is the breakdown of rock without changing its chemical composition.
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3
Q

Example of mechanical weathering?

A
  1. Salt weathering on the coasts.
  2. Seawater gets into cracks in the rock.
  3. When the water evaporates, salt crystals form. As the salt crystals form they expand, which puts pressure on the rock.
  4. Repeated evaporation of saltwater and the forming of salt crystals widens the cracks an causes the rock to break up.
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4
Q

What is chemical weathering?

A
  1. Chemical weathering is the breakdown of rock by changing its chemical composition.
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5
Q

Example of chemical weathering?

A
  1. Carbonation is a type of chemical weathering that happens in warm and wet conditions.
  2. Rainwater has carbon dioxide dissolved in it, which makes it a weak carbonic acid.
  3. Carbonic acid reacts with rock that contains calcium carbonate, e.g. chalk, so the rocks are dissolved by the rainwater.
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6
Q

What is biological weathering?

A
  1. The breakdown of rock by living things.
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7
Q

Example of biological weathering?

A
  1. Animals, such as rabbits, burrow into soil on cliff tops.
  2. Plant roots break down rocks by growing into cracks on their surfaces.
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8
Q

What is mass movement?

A
  1. Mass movement is the downward movement of material under the influence of gravity.
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9
Q

What are the four processes of erosion?

A
  1. Hydraulic action
  2. Abrasion
  3. Atrittion
  4. Solution
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10
Q

What is hydraulic action?

A
  1. Hydraulic action is when waves crash against rock and compress the air in the cracks, putting pressure on the rock.
  2. Repeated compression widens the cracks and makes bit of rock break off.
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11
Q

What is abrasion?

A
  1. Abrasion is when eroded particles in the water scrape and rub against rock, removing small pieces.
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12
Q

What is attrition?

A
  1. Attrition is when eroded particles in the water smash into each other and break into smaller fragments.
  2. Their edges also get rounded off as they rub together.
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13
Q

What is solution?

A
  1. Solution is basically just chemical weathering.
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14
Q

What are destructive waves?

A
  1. Destructive waves are the waves that carry out erosional processes.
  2. They have a high frequency.
  3. They are steep and high.
  4. Their backwash is more powerful than their swash.
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15
Q

What are constructive waves?

A
  1. Constructive waves deposit more material than they erode.
  2. They have a low frequency.
  3. They are low and long.
  4. The swash is powerful and carries material up the coast.
  5. The backwash is weaker and doesn’t take a lot of material back down the coast.
  6. This means material is deposited on the coast, building up beaches.
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16
Q

What is transportation?

A
  1. Transportation is the movement of material.
17
Q

How does longshore drift work?

A
  1. Waves follow the direction of the prevailing wind.
  2. They usually hit the cost at an oblique angle.
  3. The swash carries material up the beach, in the same direction as the waves.
  4. The backwash carries material down the beach at right angles, back toward the sea.
  5. Over time, material zig-zags along the coast.
18
Q

What are the four processes of transportation?

A
  1. Traction
  2. Saltation
  3. Suspension
  4. Solution
19
Q

What is traction?

A
  1. Traction is large particles like boulders being rolled along the sea bed by the force of the water.
20
Q

What is saltation?

A
  1. Saltation is pebble-sized particles being bounced along the seabed by the force of the water.
21
Q

What is suspension?

A
  1. Suspension is small particles like silt and clay being carried along in the water.
22
Q

What is solution?

A
  1. Solution is soluble materials being dissolved in the water and carried along.
23
Q

What is deposition?

A
  1. Deposition is when material being carried by the seawater is dropped on the coast.
  2. It occurs when water carrying sediment slows down so that it doesn’t have enough energy to carry on carrying the sediment.
24
Q

What is a concordant coastline?

A
  1. In concordant coastlines, the alternating bands of hard and soft rock are parallel to the coast.
25
Q

What is a discordant coastline?

A
  1. In discordant coastlines, the alternating bands of hard and soft rock are at right angles to the coast.
26
Q

What erosional landforms are more common on discordant coastlines?

A
  1. Headlands and bays

Geography (2 decks)

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