High and low energy coastlines

Question 1

Low energy coastlines consist of what?

Answer 1

There wave energy is low.
rate of deposition often exceeds the rate of erosion of sediment.
Typical landforms include beaches and spits.
Examples- estuaries- inlets and sheltered bays. The Baltic sea is one of the best examples due to sheltered waters and low tidal range.

Question 2

What do high energy coastlines consist of?

Answer 2

strong, steady prevailing winds create high energy waves.
The rate of erosion is greater than the rate of deposition.
Typical landforms - headlands, cliffs and wave- cut platforms.
Examples- exposed Atlantic coasts of northern Europe and north America, including the north Cornish coast in south- west England.

Question 3

coastal sediment comes from which sources?

Answer 3

• streams or rivers flowing into the sea.
• estuaries
• cliff erosion
• offshore and banks
• material from a biological origin- including shells, coral fragments and skeletons of marine organisms.

Question 4

sediment cells have been found where?

Answer 4

Along the coastline of England and wales. 11 of these sediment cells have been identified.

Question 5

Research has suggested what about sediment cells?

Answer 5

Research has suggested that sediment movements occur in distinct areas or sediment cells, within which both inputs and outputs are balanced.

Question 6

What are sediment cells?

Answer 6

They are distant areas of the coast line separated by well defined boundaries such as headlands and deep stretches of deep water.

Question 7

what are sediment cells regarded as?

Answer 7

They are regarded as closed systems to which nothing can be gained or lost.
However, it is easy for fine sediments to find their way around headlands and into neighbouring cells.

Question 8

Sediment cells vary in what?

Answer 8

They vary in size.

The larger ones are divided into smaller sections (sub cells) to allow closer study and management.

Question 9

Give an example of a sub- cell?

Answer 9

Flamborough head and the Humber Estuary on the east coast of England.

Question 10

define the costal sediment budget?

Answer 10

The balance between sediment being added to and removed from the coastal system.

Question 11

The processes of costal erosion control what?

Answer 11

Control the level of deficit as they remove material from the shoreline and if more sediment is removed then added to the coastline it will recede.

Question 12

The sediment budget can also be used to identify what ?

Answer 12

The sources that deliver sediment to the cell and to the sites where sediment is stored or sediment sinks.

Question 13

calculating the sediment for a cell requires what?

Answer 13

identification of all the sediment sources and sinks, and an estimation of the amount of sediment added and removed each year.

Question 14

what processes are coastlines effected by?

Answer 14

Marine processes and sub- aerial processes

Question 15

define marine processes?

Answer 15

Marine processes are those that operate upon the coast line that are concentrated within the sea, such as waves, tides and longshore drift.

Question 16

define sub- aerial processes?

Answer 16

Processes that slowly break down the coastline, weaken the underlying rocks and allow sudden movements or erosion to happen more easily.
Material is broken down into situ, remaining in or near its original position.
These may affect the shape of the coastline, and include weathering, mass movement and run- off.