Hurricanes and Coastlines Flashcards
How often does a hurricane hit Canada?
every other year
Which area in Canada is most at risk for hurricanes?
eastern Canada
.Name 2 power hurricanes that hit Canada
Hazel and Juan
TRUE or FALSE: people choose to move to high risk areas (e.g. coastal areas)
TRUE
what are factors that impact coastlines?
- tectonic setting
- materials present at the shore
- energy of water striking the coast
active margin vs passive margin? where are they often found?
- active margin: associated with active plate tectonics; cliffs found near active margin
- passive margin: far from active plate tectonics; broad shelf, beaches, sandy offshore beaches
What are signs of changing relative sea level?
- wave-cut platform
- drowned valley
what does wave-cut platform often indicate? Where does it form?
- form at coastlines
- indicate dropping sea level or uplifting land
List the major parts of a beach.
- offshore, foreshore, backshore, dune belt
- low-tide shoreline, high-tide shoreline
- surf zone, swash zone
What are the primary forces regulating natural shoreline modification?
waves and currents
what are waves induced by?
windes
How is the radius of the wave circular motion affected by depth? Where is it negligible?
- radius is smaller with depth
- negligible at wave base
what are breakers?
occur when wave circular motion collapses at the shore
What are the steps to form breakers?
- wave travels but water stays in same place
- deep water wave
- shallow water wave
- when bottom shallows to about 1/2 the wavelength, wave slows and wavelength decreases and crest sharpens
- at shore, the waves become too steep to support themselves and break
What is wave energy proportional to?
square of the wave height (energy = height^2)
