Key Words Flashcards
What is a system?
where a set of components work together (inputs) they interact as processes and create patterns of landforms (outputs)
What are open systems?
a system in which both mass and energy are allowed to transfer across a system boundary. there may be flow of matter as well as energy into or out of the system.
What are inputs?
any element introduced to the system from outside
What are components?
coastal inputs, transfers, processes, outputs and system feedback
What are stores?
the stores of sediment and material such as beaches and spits
What are flows/transfers?
stores such as sediment on a beach, and flows, such as longshire drift moving sediment along the coast.
What are outputs?
refers to material or energy outputs such as rip tide and ocean currents.
What is dynamic equilibrium?
a steady state reached when a reversible reaction occurs at the same rate in both directions and has an unchanging ratio of products and reactants.
What is positive feedback?
amplifying the usually processes
What is negative feedback?
reduces and possibly reverses the usual processes
What is backshore?
the part of the beach lying between the beach face and the dune foot or the coastline.
What is foreshore?
the area between the high tide and the low tide mark.
What is inshore?
the area between the low water mark and the point where the waves cease to have any influence on the land around them.
What is offshore?
the area beyond the point where waves cease to impact the sea bed and in which activity is limited to the deposition of sediment.
What is the smash zone?
the area where a turbulent layer of water washes up the beach following the breaking of a wave.
What is the surf zone?
the area between the point where waves break forming a foamy, bubbly surface and where the waves then move up the beach as swash in the swash zone.
What is erosion?
the wearing away of the earths surface by the mechanical action of processes of glaciers, wind, rivers and marine waves.
What is fetch?
the distance of open water which the wind blows
What is mass movement?
the movement of material downhill under influence of gravity but may also be assisted by rainfall
What is weathering?
the breakdown and/or decay of rock at or near the earths surface creating regolith that remains in situ until it is moved later by erosional processes
What is prevailing wind?
winds that blow from a single direction over a specific area of the earth
What is abrasion?
when rocks and other materials carried by the sea are locked up by strong waves and thrown against the coastline causing more material to be broken off
What is wave height?
the height difference between a waves crest and trough
What is wavelength?
the distance between successive crests
