Coastal Processes Flashcards
What factors affect wave size and energy?
- fetch
- strength of wind
- duration of wind
What is fetch?
How far a wave has travelled
What are the 2 types of waves?
Constructive and Destructive
What is swash?
Water flowing up the beach
What is backwash?
Water flowing down the beach
Strength of swash and backwash on a destructive wave?
Weak swash and Strong backwash
Strength of swash and backwash on a constructive wave?
Strong swash and Weak backwash
What are the 2 types of weathering?
Freeze-thaw and biological weathering
What is freeze-thaw?
- Water enters a crack and freezes.
- This causes the crack to widen
- this repeats until the rock splits
What is biological weathering?
- Plant roots get into small cracks
- Roots grow and the cracks widen
- This causes small pieces of rocks to break away
What is mass movement?
A large downward movement if rocks and other materials
Types of mass movement
- Rock fall
- Mudflow
- Landslide
- Rotational slip
What is Rock fall?
Bits of rock fall of the cliff face
What is Mudflow?
Saturated soil falls down a slope
What is landslide?
Blocks of rock slide downhill
What is rotational slip?
saturated soil slumps down a curved surface
What are the 4 types of erosion?
- Hydraulic action
- Attrition
- Abrasion
- Solution
What is hydraulic action?
Force of water hitting the bed and banks of a river and breaking it away
What is attrition?
Rocks knock against each other making them smaller and more rounded
What is abrasion?
Rocks grind along the bed and banks of a river causing them to wear away
What is solution?
When water dissolves certain types of rocks eg. chalk and limestone
What are the 4 types of transportation?
- Solution
- Suspension
- Saltation
- Traction
What is solution?
When minerals in rock are dissolved and transported as solution (not visible)
What is suspension?
Small particles like clay and silt are transported in the water
