Paper 1: Coasts Flashcards
Relief
Physical features of landscapes (steepness, height above sea level)
Fetch
The distance over which wind has blown
Constructive waves
Build a beach
Strong swash
Wave crests far apart
Destructive Waves
Destroy a beach
Strong backwash
Wave crest close together
Mechanical weathering
The breaking of rocks at the base of the cliff
Chemical weathering
Acidic rainwater dissolving rock
Biological weathering
Plant roots grow into rocks, animals burrow into rocks
Rockfall
Fragments of rock break away from cliff face
Landslide
Blocks of rocks slide downhill
Mud flow
Saturated soil and weak rock flows down a slope
Rotational slip
Saturated soil and weak rock flow along a curved surface
Hydraulic action
Power of waves as they smash into rocks
Abrasion
Pebbles grinding over a rocky platform, making it smooth
Attrition
Rock fragments knocking against one and other, therefore making it smaller and rounded
Solution (erosion)
The dissolving of soluble chemicals in rocks
Suspension
Particles suspended in water
Traction
Large pebbles rolled along the seabed
Saltation
‘Bouncing’ of particles too heavy to be suspended
Solution (transportation)
Dissolved chemicals
Long shore drift (LSD)
Longshore drift is the movement of sediment along the coastline
It occurs when waves approach the shore at an angle due to the prevailing wind
The swash carries material up the beach at 45 degrees
Then, the backwash pulls the material straight back down the beach due to gravity
This zigzag movement transports material along the coast
Headlands
Formed on dis-concordant coastlines
Hard rock cannot be worn away leaving hard rock sticking out
Bays
Formed on dis-concordant coastlines
Destructive waves erode soft rock to leave an indent on cliff face
Wave-cut platform & notch
Waves constantly hit the base of a cliff, eroding it through hydraulic action and abrasion
This creates a wave-cut notch at the base of the cliff
As the notch gets deeper, the rock above becomes unstable and eventually collapses
This process repeats, causing the cliff to retreat inland
The rock left at the base of the cliff forms a wave-cut platform, which is smooth and slopes gently towards the sea
Crack into stump
Lines of weakness appear and turns into cracks
The crack grows through hydraulic action and abrasion into a cave
The cave becomes an arch and undergoes undercutting
The arch’s roof collapses due to erosion and gravity creating a stack
The stack erodes and collapses creating a stump