Coasts Key Terms Flashcards
System
A set of interrelated components working together towards some kind of process.
Input
The addition of matter and/or energy into a system.
Output
Where matter or energy leaves the system.
Stores
Where matter or energy builds up in the system.
Flows
Where matter or energy moves within the system.
Sediment cell
Reaches of shoreline that encompass the intertidal and nearshore movement of sediment.
Positive feedback
Occurs when a chain of events amplifies the impacts of the original event.
Negative feedback
A chain of events that nullifies the impacts of the original event.
Dynamic equilibrium
When the rates of input and output in the system are equal over time, despite ongoing processes and changes.
Wave crest
The highest surface part of a wave.
Wave trough
The lowest surface part of a wave.
Inshore
The area between the low water mark and the point where the waves cease to have any influence on the land around them.
Foreshore
The part of the land next to the sea that is between the limits reached by high and low tide.
Nearshore
Where waves steepen and break, and then re-form in their passage to the beach, where they break for the last time and surge up the foreshore.
Backshore
The part of the beach lying between the beach face and the dune foot or the coastline.
Breaker zone
The nearshore zone between the outermost breakers and the bore area where wave water rushes onto the beach.
Surf zone
The zone where waves break as consequence of depth limitation and surf onshore as wave bores.
Swash
When a wave washes up onto the shoreline.
Backwash
When the water from a wave retreats back into the sea.
Foredune
A ridge of irregular sand dunes, typically found adjacent to beaches on low-lying coasts.
Berm
A bank of sand or gravel ridge parallel to the shoreline and a few tens of centimetres high, created by wave action throwing material beyond the average level of the sea.
Break point bar
Ridges of sand or shingle running parallel to the coast in an offshore zone.
