Coastal Systems and Landscapes: Coastal landscape development

Question 1

How is a bay formed?

Answer 1

• Bands of hard and soft rock are eroded
• Soft rock erodes faster than hard rock

Question 2

How are tombolos formed?

Answer 2

• Spit is formed
• Longshore drift drags sand towards the island
• Sand connects to offshore island

Question 3

How are salt marshes formed?

Answer 3

• Spit is formed
• Silt and mud is deposited in sheltered estuary

Question 4

How are spits formed?

Answer 4

• Longshore drift transports material along the coast
• Material is deposited due to reduction of energy where the sea meets the river
• Hook develops due to change in wind direction

Question 5

How are wave-cut platforms formed?

Answer 5

• Bottom of cliff is eroded by high tide
• Wave-cut notch forms
• Cliff collapses as top is unsupported
• Backwash removes cliff material from the beach
• Wave-cut platform forms

Question 6

What is a raised beach?

Answer 6

Area of sand that is found high above the current beach

Question 7

What is a dalmatian coast?

Answer 7

• Longitudinal coastlines that undergo submergence
• Flooded by sea level rise, leaving islands parallel to the coastline

Question 8

What is a fjord?

Answer 8

• Glaciated U-shaped valley filled by rising sea water level
• Shallow at mouth, deep further inland

Question 9

What is a ria?

Answer 9

• A drowned river valley
• Almost always estuaries
• WIde and deep at mouth, narrow and shallow further inland

Question 10

What is an emergence coastline?

Answer 10

Coastline that has emerged from the water

Question 11

What is a submergence coastline?

Answer 11

Coastline that has submerged below the water

Question 12

What are the two examples of emergence coastlines?

Answer 12

• Raised beaches
• Marine platforms

Question 13

What are the three examples of submergent coastlines?

Answer 13

• Ria
• Fjord
• Dalmation coastline

Question 14

What are the 3 main causes of isostatic sea level change?

Answer 14

• Uplift or depression of the earths crust due to accumulation or melting ice sheets
• Subsidence of land
• Tectionic processes

Question 15

What is the main cause of eustatic sea level change?

Answer 15

Tectonic uplift

Question 16

How does tectonic uplift cause eustatic sea level change?

Answer 16

Increases the volume of water.

Question 17

What is isostatic sea level change?

Answer 17

Sea level change on a local level due to vertical movements of the land relative to the sea.

Question 18

What is eustatic sea level change?

Answer 18

Sea level change on a global level due to a change in the volume of the water in the sea or by a change in the shape of the oceans basins.

Question 19

What is tidal range?

Answer 19

Difference between high and low tide.

Question 20

What is a neap tide?

Answer 20

Tide just after the first or third quarters of the moon, where there is the least difference between high and low water.

Question 21

What is a spring tide?

Answer 21

Tide after a new or full moon, where there is the greatest difference between the high and low water

Question 22

What are rip currents?

Answer 22

Strong currents moving away from the shoreline.

Question 23

What are storm surges?

Answer 23

Occasions where meteorological conditions produce high winds and then higher wave levels than those at high tide.

Question 24

Define coastal sediment budget:

Answer 24

The balance between sediment being added to and removed from the coastal system

Question 25

What causes tidal ranges?

Answer 25

The gravitational pull of the sun and moon.

Question 26

How does wave refraction occur?

Answer 26

• Wave approaches the coast
• Wave drags in shallow water that meets the headland = increasing wave height and steepness, shortening the wavelength
  -Wave in deeper water moves forward faster, causing the wave to bend.
• Wave energy becomes concentrated on the headland, causing erosion.

Question 27

What is wave refraction?

Answer 27

The bending of waves as it passes from one medium to another.