The Coastal System

Question 1

What are the sources of energy in a coastal system?

Answer 1

Wind, waves, tides and currents.

Question 2

What are the features of a high energy coastline?

Answer 2

Strong winds, high fetches, sandy coves and rocky landforms. Higher rate of erosion than the rate of deposition.

Question 3

What are the features of a low energy coastline?

Answer 3

Small, gentle waves due to gentle winds. They have short fetches and often have saltmarshes and mudflats. The rate of deposition is usually higher than the rate of erosion.

Question 4

What are the inputs of sediment into a coastal system?

Answer 4

Rivers carry eroded sediment into the system from inland, sea level rise can flood river valleys, forming estuaries, sediment is eroded from cliffs by waves, weathering and landslides. And waves, tides and currents can transport sediment into the coastal zone from offshore deposits.

Question 5

What are sediment cells?

Answer 5

The coast is divided into sediment cells. These are lengths of the coastline that are almost entirely self-contained for the movement of sediment. This means that the process occurring in one cell doesn’t affect the movement of sediment in another cell (each cell is a closed system).

Question 6

What makes up a coastal system?

Answer 6

Inputs, outputs, flows/transfers and stores.

Question 7

What is negative feedback?

Answer 7

Negative feedback is when a change in the system causes other changes that have the opposite effect.

Question 8

What is positive feedback?

Answer 8

Positive feedback is when a change in the system causes other changes that have a similar effect.