Coasts Flashcards
What causes waves?
The wind dragging over the surface of the water.
Define fetch.
The distance the wind travels over the water.
Define swash.
The water breaking on the sand.
Define uprush.
The water rushing up the sand.
Define backwash.
When the wave retreats back into the ocean
If the backwash has more energy than the uprush, ____
The waves eat at the land.
If the uprush has more energy than the backwash, ____
The material builds up to make a beach.
Define tides.
The rise and fall in sea level, due mainly to the moon.
Define tidal range.
The fall in sea level from high to low tide.
What do waves do?
They wear away or erode the coast, then carry away the eroded material. And finally deposit it in sheltered areas where the waves lose energy.
Define erosion.
The wearing away of rock, stones, and soil by rivers, waves, wind, or glaciers.
What processes happen during erosion?
Hydraulic action - Forcing water into cracks.
Solution - Dissolving soluble material.
Abrasion - The flinging of rocks and sand against the rock, wearing it out.
Attrition - Rocks that knock against each other.
Define longshore drift.
How sand and other material is carried parallel to the shore, by the waves.
Diagram:
↓→↓→↓
lol thats the best i can do :P.
Define headland.
Land that juts out into the sea.
Define wave-cut platform.
The flat rocky area left behind when waves erode a cliff away.
