Physical Key Terms Flashcards
Choke Points
Points in the logistics of energy and fuel that are prone to restriction
Energy Pathway
The movement of energy from its extraction or source, through pipes, freight logistics or cabling
Energy Players
Key companies and individuals who own, distribute and sell energy and energy sources
OPEC
Oil and Petroleum exporting countries. An organisation that supports and coordinates fossil fuel exporting countries
Outgassing
The release of dissolved carbon dioxide (e.g. at plate boundaries, warming the oceans)
Sequestration
The transfer of carbon from the atmosphere to stores elsewhere - living biosphere, inorganic rocks, etc.
Thermohaline Circulation
The movement of volumes of seawater from cold deep water to warm surface water.
Tipping Point
A critical threshold where any changes to a system after the tipping point are irreversible.
Anticyclone
A system of high pressure, causing high temperatures and unseasonably high evaporation rates
Aquifer
A permeable or porous rock which stores water
Channel Flow
Water flowing in a rivulet, stream or river
Convectional Precipitation
Solar radiation heats the air above the ground,
causing it to rise, cool & condense forming precipitation (often as thunderstorms)
Cryosphere
The global water volume locked up within a frozen state (i.e. snow and ice)
Desublimation
The change of state of water from gas to solid, without being a liquid (the opposite process to sublimation)
Drainage Basin
The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries
Drainage Density
The total length of all rivers & streams divided by the area of the drainage basin
Economic Water Scarcity
When water resources are available but insufficient economic wealth limits access to it
ENSO Cycles
El Nino Southern Oscillations - naturally occurring phenomena that involves the movement of warm water in the Equatorial Pacific.
Evapotranspiration
The combined total moisture transferred from the Earth to the atmosphere, through evaporation and transpiration
Integrated Drainage Basin Management
Establishing a frame of coordinated
efforts between administrations (e.g. local government) and stakeholders (e.g
businesses) to achieve balanced management of a basin (World Bank)
Open System
A system affected by external flows and inputs (such as a drainage
basin, or a sediment cell)
Percolation
Water moving vertically from soil into permeable rock
Abrasion
A form of erosion where loose material and sediment ‘sandpapers’ the walls and floors of the river, cliff or glacier. Also known as attrition.
Backshore
The upper beach closest to the land, including any cliffs or sand dunes.
Bar
A section of sand caused by deposition. They join two sides of a bay together, creating a lagoon behind the bar.
Coastal Recession
The retreat of a coastline due to erosion, sea-level rise or submergence.
Concordant Coast
A coastline where bands of alternate geology run parallel to the coast.
Corrasion
A form of mechanical erosion where material and sediment in the sea is flung at the cliff-face as waves break against it, this breaks up the rocks making up the cliff.
Corrosion
The weak acid in seawater and some types of seaweed react with particular rock minerals, causing erosion and weakening.
Dalmatian Coast
A concordant coastline with several river valleys running perpendicular to the coast. These valleys become flooded due to sea levels rising and produce long islands and inlets.
DEFRA’s 1:1 Cost-Benefit Analysis
The evaluation of a coastal town’s economic value compared to the cost of the management required.
Discordant Coast
A coastline where bands of alternate geology run perpendicular to the shore.
Dynamic Equilibrium
A system where its inputs and outputs are in balance. Short term changes can affect this balance, negative feedback loops help to take the system back to dynamic equilibrium.
Emergent Coast
A coastline that is advancing relative to the sea level at the time.
Fjord
Long narrow inlet of sea water which is between steep mountains. They are created when sea levels rise relative to the land, flooding coastal glacial valleys.
Glacial Erosion
The removal of loose material by glacier ice, involving plucking, abrasion, crushing and basal meltwater. (necessary in the formation of Fjords)
High-energy Environment
A coast where wave action is predominantly large destructive waves, causing much erosion.
Hydraulic Action
The pressure of compressed air forced into cracks in a rock face will cause the rock to weaken and break apart.
Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)
Large sections of coastline (often sediment cells) are managed with one integrated strategy and management occurs between different political boundaries. It usually follows a holistic approach and takes into consideration different players.
Littoral Cell
An area of coastline which has all sediment processes occurring sources, transport and sinks. A littoral cell is not a closed system.
Low-energy Environment
A coast where wave action is predominantly small constructive waves. Deposition usually takes place leading to beach accretion.
Mass Movement
Where there is a large downhill movement of material usually from a cliff-face. Here, the rock is often weak due to erosion and the movement is caused by gravity.
Plant Succession
Change to a plant community over time due to adaptation to changing growing conditions (eg. sand dunes and salt marshes).
Sediment Budget
Use data of inputs, outputs, stores and transfers to assess the gains and losses of sediment within a sediment cell.
Ria
Narrow winding inlet which is deepest at the mouth, formed when sea levels rise causing coastal valleys to flood.
Saltation
A form of transportation where smaller sediment bounces along the sea bed pushed by currents. This sediment is too heavy to be picked up by the flow of the water.
Sediment Cell
Sections of the coast bordered by prominent headlands. Within these sections, the movement of sediment is almost contained and the flows of sediment should act in dynamic equilibrium.
Shoreline Management Plan (SMP)
Identifies all of the activities, both natural and human, which occur within the coastline area of each sediment cell. They use this to recommend a combination of four actions for each stretch of that coastline: Hold the Line, Advance the Line, Managed Realignment and No Active Intervention.
Spit
A long depositional landform, formed from sand and shingle.
Subaerial Processes
The combination of mass movement and weathering that affects the coastal land above sea.
Submergent Coast
A coast that is sinking relative to the sea level of the time.
Accretion Wedge
The accumulation of material at the point of subduction.
Aseismic Buildings
Buildings designed to withstand or minimise destruction during an earthquake.
Asthenosphere
The upper mantle layer of the Earth. It is semi-molten and approximately 2000km wide.
Degg’s Model
This model shows that a hazard becomes a disaster if it affects a vulnerable population.
Hazard Mitigation Cycle
The sequence of governance of a natural hazard: monitoring & prediction, mitigation, preparedness.
Jokulhaup
A sudden glacial flood caused by a glacier on top of or near a volcano melting due to the heat from the eruption.
Lithosphere
The upper crust of the Earth (average thickness = 100km).
Love Waves
A surface earthquake wave with horizontal displacement. Mid-Ocean Ridge - Parting oceanic plates at a constructive plate boundary creates a ridge, with new land at the base of the oceanic valley.
Moment Magnitude Scale
A measure of an earthquake’s energy released, considered the most
accurate measure.
Paleomagnetism
The alternating polarisation of new land created. As magma cools, the magnetic elements within will align with the Earth’s magnetic field, which can alternate over thousands of years.
Park’s Model
A model describing the decline and recovery of a country over time, following a natural disaster.
Primary Waves
An earthquake wave causing compressions within the body of rock.
Pyroclastic Flow
A mixture of gases and rock fragments, at high temperatures travelling at rapid
speeds.
Rayleigh Waves
A surface earthquake wave causing both horizontal and vertical displacement.
Secondary Waves
An earthquake wave causing vertical displacement within the body of rock.
Seismic Waves
The energy released during an earthquake, in the form of Primary, Secondary,
Love and Rayleigh Waves.
Wadati-Benioff Zone
A region of the subducting plate, most affected by pressure and friction,
where most destructive margin earthquakes originate.
