Coasts Flashcards
how can coasts be classified?
- formation processes (e.g. primary coasts are formed by land based processes such as river deposition whilst secondary coasts are formed by marine based processes such as wave action)
- balance between erosion and deposition creation varying landforms
- sea level changes produce submerging or emergent coastlines
- level of energy (high or low)
- geology (rock type, lithology and structure) this can influence if it is discordant of concordant or even if its rocky cliffed plains or coastal (sandy/estuarine) planes.
what is the order of the littoral zone?
- (going out into the sea) back shore, foreshore, nearshore, offshore
- backshore and foreshore is where the greatest human activity occurs and so they experience the most change
what are the inputs (external factors) to coastal landscapes?
- marine (waves, tides and storm surges)
- atmospheric (weather, climate)
- terrestrial (geology, tectonics)
- people (economic activity and coastal management)
what are the processes to coastal landscapes?
- weathering
- mass movement
- erosion
- transportation
- deposition
what are the outputs (outcomes) of coastal landscapes?
- erosional landforms
- depositional landforms
- different types of coasts
what are submerging and emergent coastlines?
- emergent coastlines are those which have risen relative to the sea level
- submergent coastlines are those which have dropped and become drowned or flooded by the sea
geological structure
how the rock is arranged on a macro scale, it looks at the arrangement of different rock types in relation to each other
how do headlands and bay form at discordant coastlines?
- bands of alternating rock strata facing perpendicular to the coast
- wave action erodes the less resistant rock quicker due to hydraulic action and abrasion to produce bays. this becomes a sheltered low energy environment where wave energy is dissipated leading to deposition and beaches
- more resistant rock is less easily eroded so is left sticking out as a headland.
- this causes incoming waves to refract as water becomes shallower (wave refraction with a pincer like movement)
- wave energy is now concentration on the headlands, with waves becoming higher and steeper increasing the erosive power on the headland
- they will then eventually be eroded into a stack/stump
- in theory this may mean the process starts again as the coastline evens out
what are the types of tidal change?
- microtidal coasts (range of 0-4m)
- mesotidal coasts (range of 2-4m)
- macrotidal coasts (range greater than 4m)
what are the different wave energy environments?
- low energy sheltered coasts have limited fetches and low and speeds resulting in small waves
- high energy exposed coasts often face prevailing winds with long fetches creating powerful waves.
how do coves form?
- at concordant coastlines rock strata is arranged in alternating bands parallel to the coastline
- initially, the outer layer of the coastline was a band of more resistant rock such as limestone
- as wave action was continually concentrated on the rock it weakened leading to faults and joints through processes like hydraulic action and abrasion
- as wave action forces it way through this more resistant rock which is easier to erode (e.g. clay) there is rapid erosion in all directions forming a cove.
- eventually erosion slows as more resistant rock layers have been reached
- this sheltered environment allows for deposition and the creation of beaches via constructive waves
how do Dalmatian coasts form?
- type of submerging coastline
- tectonic activity folded limestone layers so that ridges (anticlines) and valleys (synclines) formed parallel to the coast
- sea levels rose following the end of the ice age and drowned the valleys (submerging coast)
- the ridges remain as islands running parallel to the coastline
- the best example of this is the Creation Dalmatian coast
- ice on land that melts causes sea levels to rise but ice in the water that melts doesn’t
how do half coasts form?
- concordant coastlines (e.g. the south of the Baltic Sea)
- they are long sediment ridges (sand and mud) topped by sand dunes that run parallel to the coast
- the build up of these sand dunes have created lagoons (haffs) between them and the shore
- form in low energy environments due to deposition by onshore winds and low energy constructive waves
meso structures
smaller stretches of cliff and their layers/ lithology
micro structures
one cliff profile and its features
coastal morphology
the shape and form of a coastal landscape and their features
bedding planes
natural breaks in the strata caused by gaps in time during periods of rock formation
folds
formed by pressure from tectonic activity which causes rocks to buckle and crumple
dip
the angle at which rock strata lies (horizontal or vertical, island or outland)
joints and faults
- joints (vertical cracks) are fractures caused either by contraction as sediment drys out or by earth movements during uplift
- faults form when the pressure or stress to which a rock is subjected exceeds its internal strength, it then slips or moves along fault planes
what happens in rock dips towards the sea?
- if a rock layer dips towards the sea, it will be possible for blocks of rock to slide under there influence of gravity (mass movement). the steeper it is the softer the bade of the profile is and so this speeds up recession
- slight not so steep dipping, joints are often opened by weathering and pressure release
- if rock dips inland stable cliff profiles are creates yet if there are well developed faults and joints perpendicular to bedding planes they can act as slide planes
what is the influence of horizontal strata?
this can lead to layers of differing resistances and therefore protrusions and indentations as well as small features such as caves, blowholes and geos
-if the layers of less resistant rock are at the base of the cliff it is likely to lead to caves and an overhand yet if it is at the top more so indentations due to weathering.
how does mineral composition of the rock (micro) affect the rate of recession?
- in limestone there are reactive minerals such as calcite which are easily broken down by chemical weathering speeding up erosion. it is soluble in rainwater becoming dilute carbonic acid after having absorbed carbon dioxide from the air. this can create small pits and pinnacle
- yet in geology like sandstone there are more inert minerals such as quartz which weather and erode more slowly
- both are sedimentary so have the same inadvertent resistance yet other factors affect rate of recession
- this can make is subject to weathering such as carbonation or hydrolysis
lithology
refers to the physical characteristics of the rock. this varies for igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic and unconsolidated rock.