COASTAL LANDSCAPES - UK Flashcards
What is the coast
The point at which the land meets the sea
Name the four coastal erosion techniques
Hydraulic action
Abrasion
Attrition
Corrosion
What are the features of a typical wave (2)
Swash
Backwash
What is the swash of a wave
The movement of the wave at the beach
What is the backwash of a wave
The movement of the wave back down the beach
The work that waves can do and the power is determined by three factors:
The strength of the wind
The length of time that the wind blows
The distance of see that the wind has to cross (the fetch)
What is a constructive wave
Constructive waves make beaches
The waivers low
It has a strong swash carrying material at the beach
It has a weak backwash so material is deposited
Most common in summer
What is a destructive wave
Destroy/road beaches
Very high wave and frequent
Strong backwash removing material from the beach
Week swash
Most common in winter
What are headlands and bays caused by
Differential erosion
What is differential erosion
Where resistant and less resistant rock is eroded at different rates, for this to happen the coast has to be a discordant coastline
What is a discordant coastline
Fans of different rock types run perpendicular to the coast
How do we get headlands and bays
1) As waves hit the coastline we get differential erosion because it is a discordant coastline with perpendicular bands of resistant and less resistant rock
2) The less resistant rock is eroded faster than the resistant rock by hydraulic action
3)Overtime the less resistant rock has been eroded and create a bay
4) Overtime the resistant rock hasn’t been raided so sticks out for me headlands
5) During come periods, sheltered areas ( bays ) Allow deposition of beaches
How headlands eroded
Crack
Cave
Arch
Stack
Stump

An example of an arch in the UK
Durdle door in Dorset
Example of a stack and a stump in the UK
Old Harry and his wife
How is a cliff and wave cut platform formed
1) Erosion starts between high tide and low tide
2)The erosion between high and low tide creates an active zone of erosion
3) Erosion continues to form a wave cut notch in the cliff
4) Wave cut notch gets bigger as it is eroded leaving rock above unsupported
5) The unsupported rock collapses and a new wave cut notch begins
6)We are left with the new cliff and a wave cut platform below the level of low tide as it hasn’t been eroded
Where was Holbeck hall
A clifftop hotel in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, owned by English Rose hotels
What is weathering
The breakdown (erosion) of rocks at the Earth surface by:
the action of rainwater,
extremes of temperature,
biological activity
Name the 4 types of weathering
Biological
Wind, rain and waves
Freeze thaw
Chemical
What is mass movement
A geographical term which means the down Hill movement of a large quantities of material under the influence of gravity
Name the four types of mass movement at the coast
Rockfall
Landslide
Mudflow
Rotational slip
When did Holbeck hall fall
Between third of June 1993 and sixth of June 1993
What caused Holbeck hall to fall
1) The summer of 1993 was warm and dry, therefore cracked the clay surrounding the hotel
2). The warm weather was followed by heavy rain which weakened the ground
3) The water penetrated the cracks and lubricated the clay
4) Holbeck hall collapsed because of rotational slip, we have evidence for this as we can see the hotel disaster happened over a period of days in stages

Describe how long shore drift works
1) Waves follow the direction of the prevailing wind and hit the beach at an angle
2)The swash carries material up the beach in the same direction as the waves
3) The backwash then carries material down the beach at right angles straight back towards the sea
4) This is repeated along the coastline in zigzags , Removing material from one end of the beach and adding material to the other end
Can longshore drift occur if waves hit the beach at 90°
No!!!
Can long shore drift t go around bends
No, can only go straight along the shoreline
What are the ingredients for a split formation
Longshore drift
A change in direction of the coastline
A river mouth/estuary
How is a split formed
1) Longshore drift moves material along the coastline
2)There was a change in direction of the coastline
3) Longshore drift continues in a straight line Straight into the sea
4) Material is deposited sticking out into the sea
5) The river flow prevents any deposition in its course so LSD ends there
6) Waves cannot get behind the split, creating a sheltered area where mudflats or saltmarshes are formed
7) The spit me develop the hook as changes in wind Direction alter the shape
How is a bar/barrier beach formed on a coastline
1) Longshore drift moves material along the coast in the direction of the prevailing wind
2) The coastline changes direction
3) Longshore drift continues across the bay
4) Sand is deposited across the bay all the way across in closing the bay called a lagoon, separating it from the sea by sandbank
SAND IS DEPOSITED BY LSD ACROSS THE BAY, HEADLAND TO HEADLAND
How was the tombolo formed?
1) LSD moves material along the coast in the direction of the prevailing wind
2) The coastline changes direction
3) LSD continues out into the sea until it hits an island
4) Deposited sand forms of sandbank connecting mainland to the island
What causes a beach at the back of the bay
Wave refraction
How is the beach formed at the back of the bay
1) As the parallel waves approach the coast (equal amount of energy) , They refract when they approach a headland
2) Around a headland, Waves concentrate their energy this causes erosion
3) As the waves approach the bay, wave energy is more spread meaning waves have less energy therefore deposition takes place resulting in a beach
What conditions does the beach have to have to form sand dunes
1) Large tidal range = beach exposed
2) Large supply of sand
3) Large flat beach
4) Onshore wind blowing up the beach
5) An obstacle such as driftwood
How are sand dunes formed
Sand is transported to the back of the beach by wind in three main ways :
1) Creep = Wind rolls the big heavy sand
2) Saltation = Lighter sand is bounced, picked up and moved
3) Suspension = Lightest Material is carried in the wind
An obstacle Traps the sand
Sand particles lose energy and are deposited
A sand dune is built up
What is a young Sand dune called
Embryo Dune
What happens to the embryo Dune for it to grow
It is colonised by plants like marram grass, the roots of the vegetation stabilise the sand encouraging more Santa accumulate there which forms foredunes and eventually mature dunes
What is a small pool in hollows between sand dunes called
Dune slack
Why is the Dorset coastline perfect a study for coastal landforms
Concordant and discordant coastlines
Name the 6 Coastal landforms in Dorset
Durdle door - an arch
Old Harry and his wife – a stack and a stump
Seacomb cliffs And wave cut platform
Swanage Bay
Hearst Castle spit
Chesil beach - tombolo
Hard engineering strategies to protect the coast
Seawalls
Rock armour/riprap
Gryones
Gabions
Name soft engineering strategies to protect the coast
Dune regeneration
Beach profiling
Beach and Ashment
Managed realignment
Where is Bournemouth located
South of England in Dorset along the coast, at the mouth of the river bourne
Why defend Bournemouth at all?
Population of 183,000
6.8 million visitors per year
Tourism worth £472.8 million per year
Tourism employs 11,604 people
3000 homes at risk
100 businesses that risk
What is being done to protect Bournemouth
£50 million scheme
Will include replacing and adding gryones And replenishing the beach
53 gryones will be replaced along the 7 mile seafront
What is a concordant coastline
Bands of rock run parallel to the coastline with one layer/type of rock on the coastline
What problems are being caused by protecting Bournemouth’s coast
Bourton on Sea is becoming Bolton Insey
This is because LSD has been prevented in Bournemouth so no sound is being transported to Bourton meaning there is a very narrow beach and lots of coastal erosion
