Sea Level Change

Question 1

What is eustatic change?

Answer 1

A global change in sea level due to a change in the level of the sea

Question 2

What is Isostatic change?

Answer 2

A local change in sea level as a result of a change in land

Question 3

What are the 2 types of isostatic changes?

Answer 3

Subsidence and rebound

Question 4

What are the causes of sea level change?

Answer 4

Ice sheets on land melt- they act as an input from the cryosphere to hydrosphere
Thermal expansion- where there is warmer water there is higher sea levels
Gravity- water is pulled to area of largest mass, when glaciers melt, it is pulled toward land
Bathymetry- ocean’s depth relative to sea level
Currents- The Thermohaline circulation means water is moved on a conveyor belt
Isostatic changes- tectonic movement or land compressing

Question 5

What are raised beaches?

Answer 5

Isostatic changes means the beach is visible at a level above the shoreline

Question 6

What are marine platforms?

Answer 6

Wave-cut platforms left exposed by isostatic changes.

Question 7

What are rias?

Answer 7

Eustatic changes flood the lower portion of the river valley

Question 8

What are fjords?

Answer 8

Eustatic changes flood a deep glacial trough, the rising sea levels submerge the U shaped valley

Question 9

What are dalmatian coasts?

Answer 9

Eustatic change submerges mountainous areas only exposing the tops leaving small dotted islands around the coast

Question 10

What are fjards?

Answer 10

Low relief, submergent landform of a deep body of water inbetween islands.