Coasts Flashcards
Porus
Allows water through the rock
Weathering
The physical, chemical or biological breakdown of solid rock by the action of the weather or plants.
Physical weathering
- Rain water gets into cracks > freezes and expands (freeze-thaw)
- Contraction and expansion of rocks (onion skin)
Chemical weathering
When a reaction occurs when the chemicals in air or rain touch rocks and wears them away.
Biological weathering
When roots or plants push apart the rocks by weakening their structures and making the cracks deeper and wider.
Erosion
The wearing away of land and transportation of material
E.g. Sea, ice, wind, rivers
Headland
A piece of land which juts out into the sea
Bay
A broad coastal inlet often with a beach
Discordant coastline
When rocks are at right angles to the sea
Headlands and bays
Concordant coastline
When rocks are parallel to the sea
Coves
Hydraulic action
The power of the waves puts pressure on the cliff
Abrasion
Rocks in the sea scrape along the cliff, like sandpaper, or smash into the cliff breaking rock off
Solution
A chemical reaction and material gets smaller as a result
Attrition
Rocks hit each other in the sea and get smaller
Fetch
The distance over which the wind has blown over the sea
Bigger the fetch = bigger waves
Wave energy
Depends on fetch, strength of the wind and the length of time the wind has blown for
Prevailing wind
Where the majority of the wind comes from
Permeable
Allows water to go into it
Hard engineering
Building physical structures to deal with natural hazards
Soft engineering
Involves adapting to natural hazards and working with nature to limit damage
Shoreline management plan (SMP)
A plan about how a whole stretch of coast is managed rather than one little bit
Deposition
The dropping of material
Destructive waves (Tall breakers)
~stormy conditions ~strong backwash ~weak swash ~material taken away ~high frequency (10-14 waves/min)
Constructive waves (Spilling waves)
~calm conditions ~weak backwash ~strong swash ~material deposited ~low frequency
