coasts Flashcards

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1
Q

arch

A

a large cave that has gone all the way through the cliff.

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2
Q

abrasion

A

when rocks hit the cliff causing it to erode.

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3
Q

attrition

A

when rocks hit each other, grinding each other down making it into smaller, rounder rocks.

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4
Q

backwash

A

when the waves are pulled away from the sea bed. This comes from destructive waves and the stronger it is the more of the seabed is eroded and sediment is carried away.

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5
Q

bay

A

a semicircle hollowed out from a cliff. It is the result of abrasion and hydraulic action. There can often be a beach formed by attrition.

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6
Q

corrosion/solution

A

the process of chemical erosion

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7
Q

erosion

A

the wearing away of materials. Erosion can occur by hydraulic action, abrasion. attrition and corrosion/solution

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8
Q

headland

A

a coastal landform that juts out into the sea and causes

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8
Q

estuary

A

a partially enclosed body of water where freshwater from a river meets saltwater from the sea.

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9
Q

headland

A

a costal landform that juts out into the sea.

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10
Q

hydraulic action

A

the sheer force of water against the cliff

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11
Q

longshore drift

A

the movement of sediment along the coast caused by waves. It goes with the prevailing wind.

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12
Q

saltation

A

when rocks are bounced along the sea bed.

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13
Q

solution

A

when load is dissolved in the seawater

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14
Q

swash

A

when waves are pushed towards the coast. This is at the angle of the prevailing wind. It is mainly caused by constructive waves and leads to deposition of load.

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15
Q

spit

A

a narrow coastal landform that is connected to the cliff at one end. It is formed by longshore drift.

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16
Q

suspension

A

when pebbles are carried by the waves.

16
Q

weathering

A

the breaking down of materials in situ. Can be caused by physical, biological or chemical.

17
Q

traction

A

when boulders are rolled along the sea bed.

18
Q

physical weathering

A

when rocks are broken down by waves, rain, wind and cold in situ.

18
Q

biological weathering

A

when animals and plants break down rocks in situ

19
Q

chemical weathering

A

when acids bread down rocks in situ. Such as acid rain.

20
Q

destructive wave

A

they have a weak swash and strong backwash and a re high energy. They displace more sediment than they deposit and create sloping beaches.

21
Q

constructive waves

A

they are low energy and have a stronger swash than backwash. They deposit more sediment than they displace.

22
Q

tombolo

A

a spit that reaches out to an island making something not similar to a peninsula.

23
Q

bar

A

when a spit goes across a bay creating a closed area of shallow water called a lagoon.

24
Q

lagoon

A

a bay that has been cut off from the ocean by a bar.

24
Q

hard engineering

A

when artificial structures are used to prevent coastal erosion

25
Q

soft engineering

A

when the natural environment is used to prevent coastal erosion.

26
Q

cave

A

a large crack in the rock leading.

27
Q

stack

A

when the top of an arch is weathered and falls down, what is left is a stump.

28
Q

stump

A

when a stack is further weathered to be very short.

29
Q

beach nourishment

A

Large amounts of sand are added
to beaches to build them up and help absorb wave
energy. Protects tourism & the coast, is easy to carry
out and fairly cheap. But it does not last very long as
sand will continue to be transported along the coast by longshore drift

30
Q

managed retreat

A

This allows the natural erosional
processes of the sea to occur, areas of low value land are allowed to flood hopefully protecting more
important areas further down the coast.

31
Q

cliff stabilisation

A

Cliffs are covered in matting and
vegetation planted to help make them more stable and
resistant to erosion.

32
Q

managed retreat

A

doing nothing. takes money away from tourism. Doesn’t let beaches look as good.

33
Q

gabions

A

Cages of wire filled with rocks to absorb the waves energy, they are effective and cheap but environmentally ugly.

34
Q

sea wall

A

Placed at the base of a cliff to reflect the waves energy.
Very expensive approximately £10,000 per km, ugly but extremely effective at protecting areas from flooding.

35
Q

groynes

A

Wood or rock long vertical structures placed at right angles to the beach to trap sediment. Build up the beach and protects the cliffs from erosion but can result in areas further down the coast being starved of beach material resulting in more erosion! Only last 25-30 years.

36
Q

rock armour/rip rap

A

Large rocks placed at the bottom of the cliff to absorb wave energy, they are effective at dispersing the waves energy and cheap but are ugly.