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AQA GCSE Geography (9-1) > Coasts > Flashcards

Coasts Flashcards

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1
Q

What are properties of constructive waves?

A
  • weaker winds
  • short fetch
  • low energy
  • swash stronger than backwash
  • deposition greater
  • low waves
  • long wave length
  • 6-9 waves per minute
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2
Q

What are properties of destructive waves?

A
  • strong winds
  • long fetch
  • high energy
  • backwash stronger than swash
  • erosion greater
  • high waves
  • short wave length
  • 11-15 waves per minute
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3
Q

What is wave length?

A

The distance between wave crests

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4
Q

What is wave height?

A

The height from the wave trough to the crest

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5
Q

What is wave frequency?

A

The number of waves per minute

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6
Q

What is a crest?

A

The highest point of a wave

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7
Q

What is a trough?

A

The lowest point of a wave - the general sea level

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8
Q

What is fetch?

A

The distance in which waves are formed

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9
Q

What is swash?

A

Water rushing up the beach

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10
Q

What is backwash?

A

Water draining down the beach

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11
Q

What do the height and strength of waves depend on?

A
  • wind speed
  • the time the wind blows for
  • fetch
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12
Q

How does longshore drift occur?

A
  • waves approach the beach at an angle similar to that of the wind
  • swash along the beach at angles - sea carrying sediment
  • backwash at right angles to the beach
  • beach material builds up
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13
Q

What is corrasion/abrasion?

A

The process where the coast is worn down by material carried by the waves - particles are thrown against the rock

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14
Q

What is hydraulic action?

A

When waves enter faults and compress air within the crack. When the wave retreats the air in the crack expands

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15
Q

What is attrition?

A

When material carried by the waves bump into each other so are smoothed and broken down

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16
Q

What is corrosion?

A

The chemical action of sea water where acids the salt dissolve rocks on the coast

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17
Q

What are the coastal processes involved in shaping the coast?

A
  • wave erosion
  • weathering (i.e. at top of cliff)
  • mass movement (e.g. slumping, landslides, flowage)
  • transportation (longshore drift)
  • deposition
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18
Q

What types of weathering are there?

A
  • mechanical
  • biological
  • chemical
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19
Q

Types of mechanical weathering?

A
  • freeze thaw - jagged rock faces

* salt crystallisation

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20
Q

What is salt crystallisation?

A
  • when salt crystal growth occurs in rock pores

* expanding crystals cause walls to crack

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21
Q

Where does salt crystallisation occur?

A

Only in coastal environments due to salt in the sea

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22
Q

Example of chemical weathering?

A

Acid rainwater - weak carbonic acid in rain dissolves rocks (solution)

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23
Q

Example of biological weathering?

A

Burrowing animals and plant roots cause rocks to loose and crack

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24
Q

What is mass movement?

A

The down hill movement of loose material under gravity

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25
Q

Case studies for coastal mass movement?

A
  1. landslip - Holbeck Hall Hotel, Scarborough
  2. rockfall - Beachy Head, Sussex
  3. slumping - Mappleton
  4. mudflow - Overstand, Norfolk
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26
Q

Details of the coastal mass movement case study in Scarborough?

A
  • holbeck hall hotel
  • 1993
  • landslip
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27
Q

Details of the coastal mass movement case study in Sussex?

A
  • beachy head
  • 200ft high chalk tower ‘devil’s chimney’
  • rockfall
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28
Q

Details of the coastal mass movement case study in Holderness?

A
  • mappleton

* rotational cliff slumping

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29
Q

Details of the coastal mass movement case study in Norfolk?

A
  • Overstand, Norfolk

* mudflow

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30
Q

Types of coastal mass movement?

A
  • landslip
  • rockfall
  • rotational cliff slumping
  • mudflow
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31
Q

What is a landslip?

A
  • generic name for the downhill movement of a large amount of rock
  • heavy rain drains through soil and into rock
  • now heavier, mass falls away
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32
Q

What is a rockfall?

A
  • when a cliff becomes unstable and collapses
  • fragments of rock break away from cliff face
  • wave cut notch at base of cliff
  • freeze thaw weathering
  • scree
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33
Q

What is rotational cliff slumping?

A
  • curved surface

* material is rotated backwards into the cliff face as it slips

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34
Q

Where does slumping usually occur?

A

In places where there is no protection e.g. sea wall

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35
Q

What is a mudflow?

A

• groundwater seepage, rain goes into the ground

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36
Q

Where do mudflows usually occur?

A

Where vegetation is sparse so cannot hold the soil in place

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37
Q

How are headlands formed?

A
  • discordant coastline
  • hard and soft rock so there’s differential erosion
  • soft rock retreats
  • hard rock juts out
  • wave refraction - tip of headland gets eroded slower and soft rock retreats more
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38
Q

What is wave refraction?

A
  • the bending of waves

* concentrating erosion at the sides of the headland

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39
Q

How do waves wear away a headland?

A
  • abrasion on either side of headland - wave cut notch
  • caves - hydraulic action
  • arches - weathering makes it collapse
  • stacks and stumps - abrasion
  • wave cut platforms
  • attrition on fallen rock then transportation
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40
Q

What are discordant coastlines?

A

Coastlines where the geology alternates between bands of hard and soft rock

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41
Q

What is a concordant coastline?

A

A coastline which has the same type of rock along it

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42
Q

What do concordant coastlines tend to have?

A

Fewer bays and headlands

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43
Q

What is a spit?

A

A sand or shingle beach that is joined to the land but projects downdrift into the sea

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44
Q

Why are spits formed?

A

When the coastline suddenly changes shape or at the mouth of an estuary

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45
Q

What is a bar?

A

A ridge of sand or shingle that stretches from one side of a bay to the other - forming a lagoon behind it

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46
Q

Why are bars formed?

A

Longshore drift transporting sediment from one side of a bay to another

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47
Q

What are the characteristics of a spit?

A
  • hooked end
  • lagoon
  • approx. 4km
  • mudflats and salt marshes
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48
Q

How does a spit form?

A
  • coastline changes shape, and waves begin to lose energy so there’s deposition at the near end
  • long shore drift moves sediment along the beach
  • hooks mark former ends of the spit
  • pebbles become smaller near the end of the spit - attrition
  • dominant wind causes far end to hook towards the land
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49
Q

What are beaches?

A

Areas of deposited sediment that lie between the high and low tide levels

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50
Q

When do beaches form?

A

When the swash of constructive waves is larger than backwash and deposition occurs

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51
Q

Why are the largest pebbles found at the back of the beach?

A

They get thrown to the back and therefore do not get reached by the tide and do not move as often

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52
Q

Why are larger rocks only found on one side of a groyne?

A

Only at one side will they be eroded by longshore drift

53
Q

What affects the characteristics of a beach?

A
  • the type of material
  • how hard the material is
  • the distance the material has traveled (rocks will be rounder)
54
Q

What are the characteristics of a sandy beach?

A
  • flat gradient
  • constructive waves
  • wide beach
  • sand dunes at back of beach
  • runners
  • shingle at top of beach, fine sand at the bottom
55
Q

What are runners?

A

Small water filled depressions formed at low tide, with rides either side

56
Q

What are the characteristics of a pebble beach?

A
  • generally steep
  • destructive waves
  • not as wide beach
  • storm beach with large pebbles at back of beach
  • smaller shingle at bottom of beach
57
Q

What are the parts of the beach? (starting from the back of the beach)

A
  • VERY BACK: dunes or storm beach
  • back shore - usually dry
  • foreshore - covered and uncovered by changing tides
  • near shore - where waves break
  • offshore - waves not breaking
58
Q

How does a beach profile differ in the winter compared to the summer?

A
  • steeper at the very back
  • more destructive waves in the winter
  • more material in back and fore shore moved
59
Q

What is nearshore?

A

The breaker zone where waves break

60
Q

What is backshore?

A

An area not usually affected by waves; sand usually dry

61
Q

What is foreshore?

A

The intertidal zone repeatedly covered and uncovered y changing tides

62
Q

What is offshore?

A

Fairly far out into sea where the waves do not break

63
Q

What are sand dunes?

A

Coastal sand hills above the high tide mark

64
Q

What are sand dunes shaped by?

A

Wind action

65
Q

What is needed for a sand dune to form?

A
  • large, flat beach
  • large supply of land
  • large tidal range (so there’s time for sand to dry)
  • onshore wind to move sand to back of beach
  • obstacle e.g. drift wood - for dune to form against
66
Q

What are the three ways that wind moves sand?

A
  • suspension
  • saltation
  • creep
67
Q

How are sand dunes formed?

A
  • heaviest grains of sand will settle against an obstacle
  • ridge forms
  • lighter grains settle on other side of obstacle
  • area facing wind begins to reach a crest
  • steep pile collapses and lighter grains fall down other side
  • repeated - so dunes migrate inland
68
Q

What is an embryo dune?

A

A newly formed dune closest to the sea

69
Q

What is saltation?

A

How sand is bounced along by the wind

70
Q

What is marram grass?

A

A plant found in the dunes that has long binding roots

71
Q

What is a dune crest?

A

The top of a sand dune

72
Q

What is a water table?

A

The upper horizontal limit of wet sand

73
Q

What is dune slack?

A

When there is a trough or low point in a line of dunes

74
Q

What is the Leeward side of a sand dune?

A

The slope that faces away from the wind

75
Q

What is the windward side of a sand dune?

A

The slope that faces the wind

76
Q

What is hard engineering?

A

When expensive artificial structures are used for procreation

77
Q

What types of hard coastal management strategies are there?

A
  • sea walls
  • groynes
  • rock armour
  • gabions
78
Q

What types of soft coastal management strategies are there?

A
  • beach nourishment
  • beach reprofiling
  • sand dune regeneration
  • managed retreat
79
Q

What is a sea wall?

A

A costal defence that provides a barrier between waves and the land

80
Q

Where are sea walls placed?

A

At the back of a beach

81
Q

What do recurved sea walls do?

A

Reflect more waves

82
Q

Advantages of sea walls?

A
  • social - sense of security, cycling/walking route above
  • economic - can last for years if well maintained
  • environmental - don’t integer with transport of sediment
83
Q

Disadvantages of sea walls?

A
  • social - restrict access to beach, floods may occur if waves break over wall
  • economic - expensive to build and for repairs
  • environmental - ugly, can destroy habitats
84
Q

Example of sea walls?

A

Hornsea or Easington

85
Q

What are groynes?

A

Wooden or stone structures that trap sediment transported by longshore drift

86
Q

Where are groynes placed?

A

The foreshore, at right angles to the beach roughly 50m apart

87
Q

Advantages of groynes?

A
  • social - some have concrete crests to walk on, windbreaks

* economic - cheap and can last if well maintained

88
Q

Disadvantages of groynes?

A
  • social - barriers that stop people walking on beach, dangerous due to deep water on one side and shallow on the other
  • economic - problem is passed on down drift
  • environmental - unattractive
89
Q

Examples of groynes?

A

Bridlington, Hornsea or Easington

90
Q

What is rock armour?

A

Boulders of hard rock that act as a barrier between the sea and land

91
Q

How does rock armour work?

A

As water enters the gaps between boulders, pressure is released and reduces the waves’ energy

92
Q

Advantages of rock armour?

A

economic - relatively cheap, quick to build and easy to maintain

93
Q

Disadvantages of rock armour?

A
  • social - restricts beach access and people climb over causing accidents
  • economic - rock from abroad as oppose to from local quarries
  • environmental - unattractive, litter gets trapped
94
Q

Examples of rock armour?

A

Hornsea and Mappleton

95
Q

What are gabions?

A

Cages filled with rocks

96
Q

How do gabions work?

A

Water enters the cages and absorbs some wave energy - reducing the rate of erosion

97
Q

Where are gabions placed?

A

At the back of a sandy beach

98
Q

Advantages of gabions?

A
  • economic - cheap and easily constructed, use local rock, quick fix
  • environmental - blend in
99
Q

Disadvantages of gabions?

A
  • economic - only on sandy beaches as shingle would degrade them, need maintenance
  • social - dangerous when damaged
  • environmental - unattractive when damaged
100
Q

Example of gabions?

A

Mappleton

101
Q

Cost of sea walls?

A

£5000 per metre

102
Q

Cost of groynes?

A

£5000 each

103
Q

Cost of rock armour?

A

£1000-3000 per metre

104
Q

Cost of gabions?

A

£100 per metre

105
Q

What is beach nourishment?

A

Replacement of lost sediment

106
Q

How is beach nourishment carried out?

A
  • beach recharge - sediment is taken from a bay that is losing sand. dredger collects shingle from seabed and pumps it out
  • beach recycling - sediment is taken from a down drift area which is building up and return it up drift
107
Q

Cost of beach nourishment?

A

£300,000 to hire dredger

£3000 per meter

108
Q

Advantages of beach nourishment?

A
  • social - wider beach so more space for people
  • economic - protect expensive properties, widened beach reduces sea wall maintenance
  • environmental - blends in
109
Q

Disadvantages of beach nourishment?

A
  • social - during nourishment beach access is restricted

* economic - ongoing costs as it has to be redone

110
Q

Example of beach nourishment?

A

Sandbanks, near Poole

111
Q

What is beach reprofiling?

A

Artificial reshaping of a beach using existing material

112
Q

Cost of beach reprofiling?

A

£200,000 per year

113
Q

Advantages of beach reprofiling?

A
  • social - residents are protected so feel safe
  • economic - cheaper than hard engineering
  • environmental - looks natural
114
Q

Disadvantages of beach reprofiling?

A
  • social - bulldozers restrict beach access
  • economic - major reprofiling is expensive
  • environmental - steep, high crested beach may look unnatural to tourists
115
Q

Example of beach profiling?

A

Selsey in West Sussex

116
Q

What generally costs more: hard or soft engineering?

A

Hard engineering

117
Q

What is sand dune regeneration?

A

Artificial creation of new sand dunes or regeneration of existing ones

118
Q

Cost of sand dune regeneration?

A

£2000 per 100 metres

119
Q

Advantages of sand dune regeneration?

A
  • social - protect land behind and can be used for walking/picnics
  • economic - small planting projects use volunteers so costs are minimal
  • environmental - help maintain habitat
120
Q

Disadvantages of sand dune regeneration?

A
  • social - when becoming established they’re fenced off to public
  • economic - checked twice a year, costly systems in place to prevent trampling, boardwalks to reduce damage
  • environmental - no guarantee dunes will be stable
121
Q

Example of sand dune regeneration?

A

Studland in Dorset or Formby

122
Q

What is managed retreat?

A

When the decision is made to no longer follow a ‘hold the line’ strategy

123
Q

Cost of managed retreat?

A

£28 million

124
Q

What are the costs of managed retreat for?

A

To relocate residents and demolish buildings

125
Q

Advantages of managed retreat?

A
  • social - reduce risk of flooding further down drift
  • economic - cheaper in the long term
  • environmental - enhance natural environmental, creates new intertidal habitats
126
Q

Disadvantages of managed retreat?

A
  • social - relocation of residents causes disruption
  • economic - short term costs of relocation
  • environmental - agricultural land lost, so are coastal habitats of birds so bird numbers will decline
127
Q

Example of managed retreat?

A

Medmerry in West Sussex

128
Q

What type of erosion is involved in creating caves?

A

Abrasion

129
Q

Why do arches become thinner at the top?

A

Due to weathering at the top of the cliff e.g. freeze thaw

AQA GCSE Geography (9-1) (7 decks)

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