Coasts

Question 1

What does erode mean?

Answer 1

Wear away rock, stones and soil by rivers, waves, wind or glaciers.

Question 2

What does transport mean?

Answer 2

The carrying away of material by rivers, waves, the wind or glaciers.

Question 3

What does deposit mean?

Answer 3

To drop material; waves deposit sand and small stones to form beaches.

Question 4

What does longshore drift mean?

Answer 4

The process through which sand and other material is carried parallel to the shore by the waves. This moves them along the coastline.

Question 5

What is a bay?

Answer 5

A smooth curve of coast between two headlands.

Question 6

What is a beach?

Answer 6

An area of sand or small stones deposited by waves.

Question 7

What is a headland?

Answer 7

Land that juts out into the sea.

Question 8

What is an arch?

Answer 8

The curved structure left when the sea erodes through the inside of a cave.

Question 9

What is a cave?

Answer 9

A natural chamber in a hillside or cliff formed due to erosion.

Question 10

What is a stack?

Answer 10

A pillar of rock left standing in the sea when the top of an arch collapses.

Question 11

What is a stump?

Answer 11

The remains of an eroded stack.

Question 12

What are wave-cut platforms?

Answer 12

The flat rocky area left behind when waves erode a cliff away.

Question 13

What is a spit?

Answer 13

A strip of sand or shingle in the sea.

Question 14

What is a salt marsh?

Answer 14

A low-lying marshy area by the sea with salty water from the tides.

Question 15

What is a storm surge?

Answer 15

A change in sea level by a storm.

Question 16

What does low tide mean?

Answer 16

When the sea has reached its lowest level for the day.

Question 17

What does high tide mean?

Answer 17

When the sea has reached its highest level for the day.

Question 18

What does tidal range mean?

Answer 18

The difference between the height of the high tide and the low tide.

Question 19

What are tides?

Answer 19

The rise and fall in sea level, mainly due to the gravitational pull of the moon.

Question 20

What does swash mean?

Answer 20

Turbulent water given when rolling waves break off at the shore.

Question 21

What does uprush mean?

Answer 21

Water rushing up when a wave hits the shore.

Question 22

What does backwash mean?

Answer 22

Water rolling back into the sea after a wave breaks off at the shore.

Question 23

What does fetch mean?

Answer 23

The length of water the wind blows over before meeting the coast.

Question 24

What is wind direction?

Answer 24

Where the wind blows from.

Question 25

What is wind speed?

Answer 25

How fast the wind is blowing.

Question 26

What are shingle?

Answer 26

Small pebbles.

Question 27

What is attrition?

Answer 27

When pieces of rock that break off also get worn down by knocking against each other.

Question 28

What is abrasion?

Answer 28

Sand and pebbles scrape against rock, wearing them away like sandpaper.

Question 29

What is hydraulic action?

Answer 29

When water is forced into cracks in the rock and helps break it.

Question 30

What is solution?

Answer 30

When slightly acidic water dissolves soluble material from rock.

Question 31

What are groynes?

Answer 31

Barriers of wood or stone down a beach to stop sand being washed away.

Question 32

What is a wave-cut notch?

Answer 32

A notch cut in a cliff face by the action of the waves.

Question 33

What is air pressure?

Answer 33

The force pressing down on us as a result of the atmosphere.

Question 34

What is rock armour?

Answer 34

A line of big rocks put in place to protect cliffs from the full force of waves.

Question 35

What are revetments?

Answer 35

Wooden barriers mean to slow down erosion by causing waves to break early.

Question 36

what is beach nourishment?

Answer 36

When more sand or shingle is added to a beach to build it up.

Question 37

what is a coast?

Answer 37

Where the land meets the sea.

Question 38

What causes waves?

Answer 38

Waves are caused by the wind dragging on the surface of the water

Question 39

What happens if the backwash has more energy than the swash?

Answer 39

the waves eat the land, dragging pebbles and sand away.

Question 40

What happens if the swash has more energy than the backwash?

Answer 40

Material is carried onto the land and left alone.

Question 41

What causes tides and why are there high and low tides?

Answer 41

Tides are caused by the rise and fall of the sea There are high and low tides mainly due to the moon’s gravitational pull. High tides are formed on the side of the Earth closest to the moon.

Question 42

What are the different ways the sea erodes the coast?

Answer 42

The sea erodes the coast by different forms of erosion, which are attrition, solution, hydraulic action and abrasion

Question 43

How does the sea transport and deposit material by longshore drift?

Answer 43

Material is carried off the beach by backwash. The swash of the next wave at an angle to the shore deposits the material away from it to last was in the direction of longshore drift. Eventually the material is moved across the coast.

Question 44

How does the sea create landforms by erosion?

Answer 44

Wave cut platform: Waves carve wave cut notches into a headland of cliffs. These continuously get deeper until the rock above them collapses. The process is repeated over a long period of time, leaving a wave cut platform behind.

Caves, arches, stacks and stumps: The sea attacks cracks in a cliff at a Headland. These cracks grow into a cave which is eventually eroded all the way through to form an arch. Ultimately, the arch collapses into a stack. This is rotted by waves to form a smaller stump.

Headland and bay: Cliffs of hard rock (erodes slowly) with the soft rock around them (erodes faster) juts out (sticks out) when the soft rock around has been eroded, leaving a headland. A bay is formed in the area where the soft rock has been eroded.

Question 45

How does the sea create landforms by deposition?

Answer 45

Beach: Some of the eroded material carried along the coast by longshore drift is deposited in sheltered areas, forming a beach.

Spit: Longford drift is interrupted by a jutting out (sticking out) piece of the coast that curves to form a sheltered bay. As a result, sand and shrinkle are deposited there in that area of the sea. This builds up as pitch with a curved end by the waves.

Salt marsh: In the sheltered area beside a spit, salt and mud build up due to sediment being deposited by flowing water. This forms a salt marsh.

Question 46

What do we use the coast for?

Answer 46

Human settlement.
Entertainment.
Trade.
Industry.
Amenity.
Fishing.

Question 47

How is the Norfolk coast in the UK threatened by the sea (causes of erosion and flooding, impacts and protection)?

Answer 47

The main reason the Norfolk coast at Happisburgh is eroding faster is due to the cliffs being very soft, with sand on top and clay below. Moreover, the coast faces the North East, where strong storms come from. These storms have a large fetch and can produce big, powerful waves. Not to mention, rain helps erode the cliffs by soaking into them and making them weaker.

Question 48

How can we protect the coast?

Answer 48

Rock armour, revetments and groynes can be used to slow down erosion at Happisburgh. Nonetheless, the groynes and revetments may be damaged beyond repair during a storm or break over time. On the other hand, rock armour is successful, yet there isn’t enough of it; the local council cannot afford continuous repairs and renews of coastal protection, which is the main problem of protecting the coast (it’s too expensive).