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Geography (3.3) > Coasts > Flashcards

Coasts Flashcards

1
Q

What is the definition of ‘coast’?

A

A dynamic, ever-changing zone where the land meets the sea.

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2
Q

What is the definition of ‘wave’?

A

A movement of energy through the water caused by wind.

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3
Q

What is the definition of ‘swash’?

A

Wave movement up a beach at an angle.

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4
Q

What is the definition of ‘backwash’?

A

Wave movement down the beach. It will be perpendicular to the beach due to gravity.

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5
Q

What is the definition of ‘constructive wave’?

A

A wave with a greater swash than backwash. Therefore, it deposits more sediment than it takes away.

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6
Q

What is the definition of ‘destructive wave’?

A

A wave with a weaker swash than backwash. Therefore, it takes more sediment away than it deposits.

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7
Q

What is the definition of ‘sediment’? what are some examples?

A

Materials that can be moved and deposited elsewhere.
Sand
Rocks
Pebbles

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8
Q

What is the definition of ‘fetch’?

A

Length of open sea that the wind has blown over.

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9
Q

What is the definition of ‘longshore drift’?

A

The movement of sediment along the coast at an obtuse angle.

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10
Q

What is the definition of ‘erosion’?

A

The movement of sediment.

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11
Q

What is the definition of ‘deposition’?

A

The putting down of sediment.

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12
Q

What is the definition of ‘erosional landforms’?

A

Coastal features that are a consequence of erosion.

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13
Q

What is the definition of ‘cliff’?

A

A very steep or vertical slope.

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14
Q

What is the definition of ‘headland’?

A

Land, made of hard rock, that protrudes into the sea. It is harder to erode.

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15
Q

What is the definition of ‘bay’?

A

Soft rock between headlands will wear away more quickly, creating a coastal indent.

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16
Q

What is the definition of ‘wave-cut notch’?

A

An overhang on the cliff base, caused by the erosion of the cliff.

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17
Q

What is the definition of ‘sea cave’?

A

A deep hole in a cliff, caused by hydraulic action and abrasion.

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18
Q

What is the definition of ‘arch’?

A

A cave where the back has eroded to create a headland hole.

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19
Q

What is the definition of ‘stack’?

A

Free standing rock pillar where an arch top has collapsed.

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20
Q

What is the definition of ‘stump’?

A

Remains of a stack’s base.

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21
Q

What is the definition of ‘wave-cut platform’?

A

Flat rock surface at coast caused by erosion causing a cliff to retreat, but leaving the part underwater intact.

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22
Q

What is the definition of ‘depositional landforms’?

A

Coastal features caused by sedimentary deposition.

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23
Q

What is the definition of ‘beach’?

A

An accumulation of sediment at the coast. Often in a sheltered area (e.g. a bay).

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24
Q

What is the definition of ‘hard coastal engineering’?

A

Artificial structures to prevent erosion.

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25
What is the definition of ‘soft coastal engineering’?
Working with nature to prevent erosion.
26
What is the definition of ‘sea wall’? what kind of coastal engineering is it?
Structures made out of concrete or similar in order to stop coastal erosion. It helps to break waves early + prevent flooding in heavy storms. Hard.
27
What is the definition of ‘rock armour’? what kind of coastal engineering is it?
Or rip-rap. Large boulders placed to prevent erosion. | Hard.
28
What is the definition of ‘reef’? what kind of coastal engineering is it?
Rocky revetments. | Hard.
29
What is the definition of ‘groynes’? what kind of coastal engineering is it?
Barriers made out of wood/rock/similar placed perpendicular to the beach in order to stop longshore drift moving too far. Hard.
30
What is the definition of ‘revetments’? what kind of coastal engineering is it?
Barriers made out of wood/rock (which are called reefs)/similar placed parallel to the beach to cause waves to break earlier. Hard.
31
What is the definition of ‘beach replenishment’? what kind of coastal engineering is it?
Adding sand/pebbles to a beach to widen said beach + prevent erosion. Soft.
32
What is the definition of ‘dune regeneration’? what kind of coastal engineering is it?
The development and/or maintenance of dunes to help accumulate sediment + widen beach. Soft.
33
What is the definition of ‘managed retreat’? what kind of coastal engineering is it?
Planned removal of human habitation to allow natural erosion. Soft.
34
What causes waves?
An energy transfer over the sea surface as the wind blows.
35
Which factors determine wave size? how many are there?
Wind strength. Wind duration. Fetch.
36
Why do waves break?
They break through friction. As it gets shallower, the bottom begins to go more slowly but the top continues at the same speed. Friction opposes motion; therefore, the wave will break.
37
What is the prevailing wind in the British Isles?
The southwesterly wind.
38
How many parts are there to a wave? what are they? how do they work?
Two: the swash and the backwash. The swash moves at an angle up the beach. The backwash moves straight back down due to gravity’s effect.
39
What will a wave do to sediment?
It will either deposit or remove sediment, which is known as longshore drift.
40
What are some features of a constructive wave?
``` The swash is greater than the backwash. Low + flat. More common in calm weather. Low energy. Low frequency (6-8 per minute). Far apart. Deposit more material than they take away. NI has more constructive than destructive waves. Gentle slopes are formed. ```
41
What are some features of a destructive wave?
``` The backwash is greater than the swash. High + steep. More common in winter. High energy. High frequency (10-15 minutes). Close together. Take away more sediment than they deposit. Steep slopes. ```
42
What are the four kinds of erosion?
Hydraulic action. Abrasion (corrasion). Attrition. Solution (corrosion).
43
What is hydraulic action?
The weight of water upon compressed air inside a crack will impact the crack, causing it to break up + become bigger. It will also cause it to move rocks.
44
What is abrasion?
Or corrasion. Sediment is waves is ‘hurled’ at the rock, scraping + gouging it.
45
What is attrition?
Loose fragments of sediment (e.g. pebbles) knock into each other, which erodes them. It rounds them and makes them smaller.
46
What is solution?
Saline water reacts with sediment fragments (e.g. pebbles) to create salt and water (neutralisation).
47
What direction does longshore drift always go?
Right/east.
48
What factors will make rock easier to erode?
Sedimentary rock. | Weathered rock — worn away by weather + plants.
49
Where will sediment be deposited by longshore drift?
Waves lose energy in sheltered areas; therefore, eroded sediment will be deposited there.
50
Why do beaches form in bays? why are they beneficial?
Waves lose energy and deposit sediment in sheltered areas e.g. bays. They are beneficial to bays as they act as buffers; nevertheless, waves in bays have little energy, as aforementioned.
51
How are wave-cut platforms and notches formed?
Headlands must take the full force of waves after the soft rock is eroded. Waves erode (hydraulic action + abrasion) lower part of cliff, forming a wave-cut notch. The rock above will collapse and be eroded in the sea. The process continues repeating further and further in, but a wave-cut platform is left underneath the sea.
52
What is the process of forming a cave, an arch, a stack and a stump?
Processes of hydraulic action and abrasion. Hydraulic action acts on cracks, making them wider and deeper — beginning of a cave. Eventually, a cave forms — cave. The rock erodes the back of the cave — arch. The top collapses due to pressure + lack of support — stack. Stack will erode due to hydraulic action + abrasion — stump. Stump will erode, leaving little trace that it was ever there.
53
What is a shingle?
A pebble-ridden beach. | Shingle can also mean ‘many pebbles’.
54
How are spits formed?
Constructive waves causing longshore drift to continue into the sea + deposit material.
55
How are hooks formed?
Strong winds curving the end of a spit.
56
How are bars formed?
A spit joining two headlands together.
57
How are tombolos formed?
A spit joining an island.
58
What are some advantages of sea walls?
Long-lasting. | Prevent loss of revenue/lives.
59
What are some advantages of rock armour?
``` Or rip-rap. Relatively cheap (£2.5k per metre). More natural-seeming — does not decrease tourism. ```
60
What are some advantages of groynes?
Effective at stopping longshore drift. Last 15-20 years.
61
What are some advantages of revetments/reefs?
Waves erode them instead of cliffs. | Waves break earlier.
62
What are some advantages of beach nourishment?
It helps to build up a beach that can protect cliffs | It fits in
63
What are some advantages of managed retreat?
It is relatively cheap in the long term. | Salt marshes are diverse + home to many important species.
64
What are some disadvantages of sea walls?
Expensive (£2-5k per metre). Can be destructive to + scour the beach if poorly designed. Aesthetically displeasing.
65
What are some disadvantages of rock armour?
Or rip-rap. Short-term, as they can move. Erosion is then focussed around the sides of the rock armour.
66
What are some disadvantages of groynes?
Cannot be repaired — must be expensively fully replaced. Permeable. Disrupt the beach and are unsightly.
67
What are some disadvantages of revetments/reefs?
Not very long-lasting.
68
What are some disadvantages of beach nourishment?
Expensive — £1m per mile. If taken from another beach (i.e. instead of dredging), not sustainably sourced — will destroy an ecosystem for the benefit of other. The beach will erode more quickly as it is not tightly packed as in nature.
69
What are some disadvantages of managed retreat?
Human land is lost to the sea. | Landowners have to be compensated — up to £5-10k per ha.
70
What are some uses of the coast?
``` Homes. Seaside resorts. Farming. Industry. Fishing. Ports. Defence (i.e. navy). Dredging (>1m tonnes of sand/gravel from sea bed p.a. e.g. for road building). ```
71
Where is Happisburgh?
On the north Norfolk coast.
72
What is happening in Happisburgh in terms of coastal erosion?
The coast is eroding at an enormous rate. Livelihoods are disappearing because: — government will not pay for defences and — insurance does not cover ‘coastal erosion’ — houses cannot be sold (not worth anything). — Happisburgh loses 1m p.a., but some places lose 1m per month.
73
Why is Happisburgh eroding so quickly?
Cliffs are soft: sand + clay. Cliffs are very weathered — rain soaks in and is held — the more rain, the weaker the cliffs. North Sea is large; therefore, a large fetch. Winter has more destructive waves — combining these two leads to huge cliff chunks being destroyed in storms with huge waves. There are some coastal defences — groynes: not good enough by themselves — rock armour: not enough — revetments: destroyed.
74
How are saltmarshes formed?
Saltmarsh/mudflat can form from deposited sediment in the sheltered area behind the hook.
75
How are lagoons formed?
They are the bays behind bars.

Geography (3.3) (4 decks)

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