Coasts

Question 1

What is a discordant coastline?

Answer 1

The alternating rock layers (strata) are at right angles to the coastline. This leads to headlands and bays

Question 2

What is a headland?

Answer 2

A piece of land jutting out into the sea (usually harder rock)

Question 3

What is a bay?

Answer 3

A broad coastal inlet often with a beach (usually softer rocks)

Question 4

What is a concordant coastline?

Answer 4

The rock (strata) are parallel to the coastline. This leads to the formation of a cove

Question 5

What is a cove?

Answer 5

A small, sheltered bay found at concordant coastlines.

Question 6

What is abrasion?

Answer 6

The scratching or scraping of the coast by sediment in the water

Question 7

What is attrition?

Answer 7

The wearing away of particles of debris by the action of other debris e.g. Beach pebbles

Question 8

What is hydraulic action?

Answer 8

The force of the water itself eroding the coast

Question 9

The human activities on the coast: Housing

Answer 9

More people are moving to the coast as it is more affordable than living in London. Commuters are retires are choosing to relocate to coastal cities.

Question 10

The human activities on the coast: Office

Answer 10

High office costs means that more companies are also relocating. JP Morgan relocated to Bournemouth in 2015

Question 11

The human activities on the coast: Agriculture

Answer 11

The price of farmland has increases greatly (£2400 per hectare (1995) to £30000 per hectare (2015)). This means farmers are using whatever land they can. Including wetlands and marsh which are vital for wildlife. This farmland could also be at risk of sea level rise.

Question 12

The human activities on the coast: Industry

Answer 12

Heavy industries on the coast negatively impact the visual landscape. This can prevent tourism to certain areas.

Question 13

The human activities on the coast: Coastal Management

Answer 13

Coastal management can also heavily impact the appearance and processes of the coast

Question 14

What is hard engineering?

Answer 14

Building physical structures to deal with natural hazards

Question 15

Examples of hard engineering

Answer 15

Sea walls, groynes, gabions, revetments

Question 16

What is soft engineering?

Answer 16

Involves adapting to natural hazards and working with nature to limit damage

Question 17

Examples of soft engineering

Answer 17

Beach nourishment, dune regeneration, marsh creating

Question 18

What is Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)?

Answer 18

Involves making different choices about management for a whole stretch of coast (not all areas will be protected to the same level)

Question 19

What is Shoreline Management Plan (SMP)?

Answer 19

This is an approach that builds on knowledge of the coastal environment and considers the wide range of public interests to protect the coast

Question 20

What is advancing the line?

Answer 20

Using sea defenses to move the coast further into the sea

Question 21

What is backwash?

Answer 21

When the water from a wave runs back down the beach

Question 22

What is a bar?

Answer 22

An accumulation of sediment that has grown across an entire bay and connected to the other side (caused by long-shore drift)

Question 23

What is beach nourishment?

Answer 23

Adding sand and shingle to the beach to make it higher or broader

Question 24

What is a cliff collapse?

Answer 24

Steep cliffs collapse when there is a loss of supporting rock underneath, caused by wave attach

Question 25

What is a constructive wave?

Answer 25

Where swash is stronger than backwash. This means that there is more deposition than erosion. More common during summer.

Question 26

What is cost benefit analysis?

Answer 26

Looking at all the costs of a project, social and environmental as well as financial, and deciding whether it is worth going ahead

Question 27

What is a destructive wave?

Answer 27

Where backwash is stronger than swash. This means that there is more erosion than deposition. More common during winter

Question 28

What is doing nothing?

Answer 28

Take no action art all to protect/manage the coastline

Question 29

What is dune regeneration?

Answer 29

Plants such as marram grass are planted to stabilise sand dunes and help them develop

Question 30

What is a fault?

Answer 30

hey are larger cracks by past tectonic movement

Question 31

What is fetch?

Answer 31

The length of water over which the wind has blown, affecting the size and strength of waves.

Question 32

What are gabions?

Answer 32

Cages of boulders built into a cliff face. The small rocks within the cages help absorb wave energy

Question 33

What are groynes?

Answer 33

Timber or rock structures built at 90° to the sea. They are designed to trap sediment being moved by long shore drift. They widen the beach and they help to protect the land behind

Question 34

What is holding the line?

Answer 34

Using sea defenses so the coast stays where it is

Question 35

What is a joint?

Answer 35

Are small, usually vertical cracks found in many rocks

Question 36

What is longshore drift?

Answer 36

The movement of material along a coats by waves which approach at an angle the shore but recede directly away from it

Question 37

What is marsh creation?

Answer 37

An example of manages retreat. Areas of low lying coast line are allowed to be flooded, creating a salt marsh as a barrier

Question 38

What is Old Harry?

Answer 38

A stack formed at the end of a headland due to erosion and weathering (joint > cave > arch > stack> stump)

Question 39

What is prevailing wind?

Answer 39

The most frequent direction the wind blows in a certain area

Question 40

What is revetments?

Answer 40

Similar to a groyne however i runs parallel to the coast. It absorbs wave energy and traps beach material behind it

Question 41

What is rock armour?

Answer 41

Piles of large boulders dumped at the foot of a cliff. They absorb wave energy and wraps beach material behind it

Question 42

What is a saltmarsh?

Answer 42

Salt tolerant vegetation growing on mudflats in bays and estuaries (also behind spits)

Question 43

What is a sea wall?

Answer 43

A concrete or rock barrier built at the foot of cliffs or top of beach. Usually curved to reflect the waves back into the sea.

Question 44

What is a spit?

Answer 44

A ridge of and running away from the coast usually with a curved seaward end. It is formed by longshore drift

Question 45

What is strategic realignment?

Answer 45

Gradually let the coast erode and move people and businesses away from the areas at risk

Question 46

What is a storm surge?

Answer 46

A rapid rise in the sea level caused by low pressure and strong winds

Question 47

What is swash?

Answer 47

When a wave breaks and water is pushed up the beach

Question 48

What is a tombolo?

Answer 48

A bar of sand that has connected the mainland to an island

Question 49

What is Terminal Groyne Syndrome?

Answer 49

The last groyne prevents longshore drift from supplying sediment further down the coast. This therefore creates/ movers the problem to an area down the coast

Question 50

What is a wave-cut notch?

Answer 50

A small indentation (notch) cut into a cliff roughly at the level of high tide caused by erosion

Question 51

What is a wave-cut platform?

Answer 51

A wide, gentle sloping rocky surface at the foot of a cliff.