Key Words Flashcards
Carrying capacity
The ability of a landscape to absorb the activity of people without any lasting damage.
Honey pot sites
Places that attract many tourists and which are often congested at peak times.
Upland
A landscape that is hilly or mountainous. Upland landscapes contain large areas of open space with few field boundaries.
Abrasion
Erosion caused by friction which occurs when a river carries sand, gravel or pebbles and uses them to wear away the landscape.
Attrition
A type of erosion where rocks smash against each other making them smaller and more rounded.
Deposition
The laying down of material in the landscape. Deposition occurs when the force that was carrying the sediment is reduced.
Drainage basin
The area a river collects its water from. This is also called the river’s catchment area.
Floodplain
The flat area beside a river channel that is covered in water during a flood event.
Gorges
Steep sided, narrow valleys often found below a waterfall.
Hydraulic action
Erosion caused when water and air are forced into gaps in rock or soil.
Meander
A sweeping curve or bend in the river’s course
Plunge pool
The pool of water found at the base of a waterfall. Plunge pools are erosional features created by abrasion and hydraulic action of the plunging water
Slip-off slope
The gentle slope on a river beach (or point bar) that is formed by deposition of sediment on the inside bend of a meander.
Transport (in rivers)
The movement of material as it is carried by a river through the landscape.
Arches
Natural arch-shaped features in cliffs on the coastline that are formed by the erosion of a cave in a headland.
Fetch
The distance over which wind has blown to create waves on the sea. The greater the fetch, the larger the waves.
Landslide
The sudden collapse of a hillside under its own weight. Landslides are sometimes triggered on a cliff by erosion at the foot of the slope.
Longshore drift
A process by which beach material Is moved along the coast.
Retreat
The gradual backward movement of a landform due to the process of erosion. The coastline retreats due to the erosion of a cliff.
Rock falls
The sudden collapse of rocks from a cliff or steep slope.
Spits
Coastal landforms formed by the deposition of sediment in a low mound where the coastline changes direction, for example, at the mouth of a river.
Stacks
Natural features of an eroded cliff landscape. Stacks are formed by the collapse of a sea arch.
Wave-cut notch
A slot with overhanging rocks that has been cut into the bottom of a cliff by wave action.
Wave-cut platform
A coastal landform made of rocky shelf in front of a cliff. The wave cut platform is caused by erosion and left by the retreat of the cliff.
Annual regime
The way in which a river’s discharge varies throughout the year.
Discharge
The amount of water flowing through a river channel or out of an aquifer. Discharge is measured in cubic metres per second (cumecs).
Hydrograph
A type of line graph that shows variation in discharge of a river. Time, which is on the horizontal axis, could be in hours, days or weeks.
Overland flow
The flow of water across the ground surface.
Throughflow
The downhill flow of water through soil.
Ageing population
A country which has a high proportion of people aged over 65 is said to have an ageing population.
Brownfield site
A development site where older buildings are demolished or renovated before a new development takes place
Hard engineering
Artificial structures such as sea walls or concrete river embankments.
Hazard map
A type of plan or map that shows the extent of a hazard such as flood risk.
Managed retreat (realignment)
A coastal management strategy in which creates a natural line of defence against flooding which is further inland than before.
Shoreline Management Plan
The plan that details how a local authority will manage each stretch of coastline in the UK in the future.
Small Island Developing States
58 small and remote islands and coastal communities that are vulnerable to sea level rise and the effects of climate change.
Soft engineering
Alternative method of reducing floods by planting trees or allowing areas to flood naturally.
Vulnerability
The risk experienced during a natural disaster such as a coastal flood. Some groups of people in society are more vulnerable to risk than others.
Global circulation system
The movement of air around the world
High pressure weather
When cold air presses down on Earth. Generally leads to clear, and pleasant, weather.
Prevailing wind
Wind from the most common direction in any given place
Beaufort Scale
Measure used to measure wind
Convectional rainfall
Rainfall, often heavy, that occurs when thick clouds form because of warm air rising quickly
Relief rainfall
Rainfall that occurs when clouds rise up over mountains
Frontal rainfall
Rainfall that occurs when warm air rises over cold air
Storm surges
Abnormal rises in sea level that occur when low air pressure raises sea levels, especially when a tropical storm nears land
Ridge push
Gravitational force that causes a plate to move away from the crest of an ocean ridge, and into a subduction zone
Fold mountains
Fold mountains are formed when two plates move together. The movement of the two plates forces rocks upwards into a series of folds
U-shaped valleys
Valleys in a U shaped created by a glacier moving downwards
