Coastal Processes (Unit 2, Topic 1) Flashcards
What is a Carbon Pump?
The negative correlation between the temperature of the water and the amount of Co2 that can be dissolved
What is Volcanic Outgassing?
Releases both water and carbon into the atmosphere
What is Thermohaline Circulation?
Movement of ocean currents of heat energy and organic matter around the globe and allows carbon to be diffused into the water
What is an Example of Water Ocean Feedback Loop?
Global temperatures rise so increased oceanic temperatures so more water less able to dissolve into the ocean and is instead released leading to more Co2 in the atmosphere so global temperatures rise
What are Upwellings?
The movement of cold water from deep in the ocean towards the surface. The more dense cold water replaces the warmer surface water and creates nutrient rich ocean currents
What are Ocean Currents?
The permanent or seasonal movement of surface water in the seas and oceans. Wind drives the currents that are at a near to or at surface level. Measuring currents allows for safe docking and navigation by predicting current movement.
What are Tidal Currents?
Tides also create tidal currents that change in a regular pattern. A rise in sea level by the moons gravitational pull. This rise in water level is accompanied by a horizontal movement of water called the tidal current. Measuring currents are important to shipping, commercial fishing, recreational boating and ocean safety.
What are Longshore Currents?
Longshore currents occur when waves hit a coastline parallel at an angle, generating a flow of water parallel to the coastline, this transports sediment parallel to the coastline.
What are Rip Currents?
They are strong currents moving underwater away from the shoreline, they develop when seawater is piled up along the coastline. Initially they run parallel to the coastline before flowing out through a breaker zone. These are extremely hazardous to swimmers and small boats
How do Tides Work?
The periodic rise and fall in sea level is caused by the gravitational pull of the sun and moon. Tides create ocean currents that influence the scale and direction of coastal sediment movement, they can be used to generate renewable energy. When the moon and sun are in a straight line the tide raising force is the strongest and this occurs twice in a lunar month, these are called spring tides.
Equally twice a month when the sun and moon are perpendicular they create the lowest tidal range or neap tides. The pattern of tides are created by the Coriolis effect, morphology of the seabed and proximity of land masses. When the moon pulls there is a high tide, when the sun pulls there is a low tide
What are High-Energy Coasts?
A coastline where strong, steady, prevailing winds create high energy waves and the rate of erosion is greater than the rate of deposition
What are Low-Energy Coasts?
A coastline where wave energy is low and the rate of deposition often exceeds the rate of erosion of sediment
What are the Affecting Factors of Geology?
-Lithology
-Structure
-Dip
What are the 3 Rock Types?
Igneous rock is crystalline, resistant and impermeable (Granite)
Sedimentary rock is permeable and has air in spaces making them porous (Shale)
Metamorphic rock is very hard, impermeable and resistant (Marble)
What is Coastal Recession?
The retreat of the coastline due to erosion, sea level rise or resurgence
What are Joints?
A brittle fracture in a rocks surface where water can enter
What is Strata?
Layers of sedimentary rock that are formed through deposition, slowly changed by pressure, heat and chemical corrosion
What is Coastal Morphology?
The shape and form of the coastline influenced by rock type and structure
