coastal systems and landforms PMT

Question 1

Backshore

Answer 1

Upper beach closest to the land, including an cliffs or sand dunes

Question 2

Abrasion

Answer 2

Form of erosion where loose material ‘sandpapers’ walls and floor of a river, cliff or glacier.

Question 3

Beach morphology

Answer 3

Surface shape of the beach

Question 4

Coastal recession

Answer 4

Retreat of a coastline due to erosion, sea-level rise or submergence

Question 5

Concordant coast

Answer 5

Bands of alternate geology run parallel to the coast

Question 6

Dalmatian coast

Answer 6

Concordant coastline with several river valley perpendicular to the coast. They become flooded to produce parallel long islands and inlets

Question 7

Discordant coast

Answer 7

Coastline where bands of alternate geology run perpendicular to the shore

Question 8

Dynamic equilibrium

Answer 8

Where a natural system tries to achieve balance by making constant change in response to a constantly changing system

Question 9

Emergent coast

Answer 9

Coastline that is advancing relative to the sea level at the time

Question 10

Eustatic

Answer 10

Global changes to sea level

Question 11

Foreshore

Answer 11

Lower part of the beach covered twice a day at high tide (receives most regular wave action)

Question 12

Freeze thaw

Answer 12

Physical, sub-aerial weathering where water freezes in cracks of rock, expands and weakens the rock

Question 13

Geology

Answer 13

The structure and arrangement of a rock

Question 14

Glacial erosion

Answer 14

Removal of lose material by glacier ice involving plucking, abrasion, crushing and basal meltwater

Question 15

Grading

Answer 15

Layering of sediments based on their size

Question 16

High energy environment

Answer 16

Coast where wave action is mostly dominated predominant large destructive waves, causing erosion

Question 17

Impermeable

Answer 17

A rock that does not allow rainwater to pass through

Question 18

Isostatic

Answer 18

Change in a local coastline or land height relative to sea level.

Question 19

Littoral cell

Answer 19

A section of the coast, within which involved much sediment movement- not a closed system

Question 20

Permeable

Answer 20

A rock that allows rainwater to pass through it

Question 21

Plant succession

Answer 21

Change to a plant community due to growing conditions adapting

Question 22

Subaerial processes

Answer 22

Combination of mass movement and weathering that affects the coastal land above sea

Question 23

Submergent coast

Answer 23

Coast that is sinking relative to the sea level of the time

Question 24

Till

Answer 24

Deposits of angular rock fragments in a finer medium