Coasts as Natural Systems Flashcards
What are the inputs of the coastal system?
Precipitation
Wind
Fluvial Sediment
What are the outputs of the coastal system?
Ocean Currents
Rip Tides
Wave Cut Platforms
Bays
What are the stores in the coastal system?
Sand Dunes
Beaches
Spits
Bars
What are the transfers in the coastal system?
Erosion
Longshore Drift
Mass Movement
Evaporation
What are the feedbacks in the coastal system?
Mass movement decreasing cliff foot erosion
Coastal management increasing erosion elsewhere
What are the 7 earth cycles?
Energy Carbon Rock Ocean Atmospheric Water Nitrogen
What type of system is the coastal system and why?
It is an Open system because it interacts with the other earth systems
What cycles does the coastal system interact with?
Ocean
Atmospheric
Rock
Water
What do constructive waves form?
Beaches, spits, bars, tombolos
What do destructive waves form?
Wave cut platforms, caves, arches, stacks, stumps
What is dynamic equilibrium?
Where a system has constant inputs and outputs of energy and matter that balance
What factors affect dynamic equilibrium in coastal areas?
Supply of sand
Wave energy
Sea level change
Location of shoreline
What is the difference between landforms and landscapes at the coast?
Landforms are individual features (created by coastal processes)
Landscapes are entire areas including sea coastline and land immediately behind the coast, they also include landforms
What are the sources of sediment in the coastal system?
Rivers
Cliff erosion
Offshore sediment
Wind/ Aeolian
What is an input in this context?
A source of energy, sediment or water into the coastal system from outside of it
