Coasts key terms (EQ1)

Question 1

Coast

Answer 1

A coast is the part of the land most affected by its proximity to the sea and the part of the ocean most affected by its proximity to the land

Question 2

Littoral zone

Answer 2

The wider coastal zone including adjacent land areas and shallow parts of the sea just offshore

Question 3

Strata

Answer 3

Layers of rock

Question 4

Bedding Planes

Answer 4

Natural horizontal cracks in the rock caused by Earths movement or sediment drying out

Question 5

Joints

Answer 5

Natural vertical cracks in the rock caused by Earths movement or sediment drying out

Question 6

Folds

Answer 6

Caused by stress or pressure during tectonic activity

Question 7

Faults

Answer 7

Strength or pressure causes a buckle effect

Question 8

Dip

Answer 8

The angle of the rock towards the sea

Question 9

Relief

Answer 9

Shape of the land overall

Question 10

Igneous

Answer 10

Rock formed by the cooling and solidifying of molten materials from beneath the earth’s surface or from lava

Question 11

Metamorphic

Answer 11

Rock that has been transformed by heat and pressure without passing through a liquid stage

Question 12

Sedimentary

Answer 12

Rock that has been formed by the deposition and solidifying of sediment. Sedimentary rock is deposited in layers and often contains fossils

Question 13

Permeable Rocks

Answer 13

Allow water to flow through them. Includes many sandstones and limestones

Question 14

Impermeable Rocks

Answer 14

Do not allow groundwater to flow. Includes clays, mudstones and most igneous and metamorphic rocks

Question 15

Succession

Answer 15

The changing structure of a plant community over time as an area of initially bare sediment is colonised by plants

Question 16

Psammosere

Answer 16

Sand dune succession

Question 17

Halosere

Answer 17

Salt marsh succession

Question 18

Concordant Coasts

Answer 18

bands of more resistant and less resistant rock run parallel to the coastline. An example is the south coast of Dorset.

Question 19

Discordant Coasts

Answer 19

bands of more resistant and less resistant rock run at right angles to the coastline. An example of this is the eastern side of the south coast of Dorset.