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GCSE Geography - Physical > The Coastal Zone > Flashcards

The Coastal Zone Flashcards

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1
Q

What is mechanical weathering?

A

The breakdown of rock without changing its chemical composition.

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2
Q

What is chemical weathering?

A

The breakdown of rock by changing its chemical composition

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3
Q

What happens during freeze thaw weathering?

A
  • Water gets into cracks in the rock
  • It freezes and expands, putting pressure on the rock
  • The water thaws and contracts, releasing the pressure
  • The process repeats and widens the cracks
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4
Q

What is carbonation weathering?

A
  • Rainwater has carbon dioxide dissolved in it which makes weak carbonic acid
  • Carbonic acid reacts with rock that contains calcium carbonate
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5
Q

What is mass movement?

A

When material shifts down a slope as one, under the force of gravity

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6
Q

What are slides?

A

Material shifting in a straight line

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7
Q

What are slumps?

A

Material shifts with a rotation

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8
Q

Mass movement causes coasts to…

A

…retreat rapidly

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9
Q

When is mass movement more likely to happen?

A

When the material is full of water, as it acts as a lubricant

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10
Q

What are the 4 processes of erosion?

A

Hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition and solution

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11
Q

What is Hydraulic action?

A

Waves crash against the rock and compress the air in the cracks. This puts pressure on the rock. Repeated compression widens the cracks and bits of rock break off

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12
Q

What is abrasion?

A

Eroded particles in the water scrape and rub against the rock, removing small pieces

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13
Q

What is attrition?

A

Eroded particles in the water smash into each other, and break into smaller fragments. Their edges also get rounded off.

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14
Q

What is solution?

A

Weak carbonic acid in seawater dissolves rock like chalk and limestone

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15
Q

What are the features of a destructive wave?

A
  • High frequency (10-14 a minute)
  • They’re high and steep
  • Their backwash is more powerful than their swash
  • They remove material from the coast
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16
Q

Waves erode cliffs to form…

A

…wave cut platforms

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17
Q

How are wave cut platforms formed?

A
  • Waves cause most erosion at the foot of a cliff.
  • This forms a wave cut notch, which is enlarged as erosion continues
  • Undercutting occurs
  • The rock above becomes unstable and collapses
  • Repeated collapsing causes the cliff to retreat
  • A wave cut platform is left behind
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18
Q

How are Headlands and Bays formed?

A
  • Headlands and bays form where there are alternating bands of hard and soft rock along a coast
  • The less resistant rock is eroded quickly and this forms a bay
  • The resistant rock is eroded more slowly so is left protruding into the sea, forming a headland
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19
Q

How does longshore drift occur?

A
  • Waves follow the direction of the prevailing wind
  • The hit the coastline at an oblique angle
  • The swash carries material up the beach, in the same direction as the waves
  • The backwash then carries material down the beach at right angles
  • Material zigzags along the beach over time
20
Q

What is deposition?

A

When material being carried by the sea is dropped on the coast

21
Q

When are coasts built up?

A

When the amount of deposition is greater than the amount of erosion

22
Q

When is the amount of material deposited increased?

A
  • There’s lots of erosion elsewhere on the coast

- There’s lots of transportation of material into the area

23
Q

Which waves give a lot of deposition but not much erosion?

A

Low energy waves

24
Q

What are the features of a constructive wave?

A
  • They’re low in frequency (6-8 per min)
  • They’re low and low
  • The swash is powerful and carries material up the coast
  • The backwash is weaker and it doesn’t take a lot of material back down the coast
25
Q

Beaches are formed by…

A

…deposition

26
Q

Which marks are beaches found between?

A

The high water mark and the low water mark

27
Q

What type of waves are beaches formed by?

A

Constructive

28
Q

Sand beaches are…

A

…flat and wide - sand particles are small and the weak backwash can move them back down the beach

29
Q

Shingle beaches are…

A

…steep and narrow - shingle particles are large and the weak backwash can’t move them back down the beach

30
Q

How are spits formed?

A
  • The from at sharp bends in the coastline
  • Longshore drift transports sand and shingle past the bend and deposits it in the sea
  • Strong winds and waves can curve the end of the spit
  • The sheltered are behind the spit can accumulate material, forming a salt marsh
31
Q

How are bars formed?

A
  • A bar is formed when a spit joins two headlands together
  • The bar cuts off the bay from the sea
  • This means a lagoon can form
32
Q

What is a sea wall?

A

A wall made out of hard material like concrete that reflects waves back into the sea

33
Q

What is rock armour?

A

Boulders that are piled up along the coast

34
Q

What are Groynes?

A

Wooden or stones fences that are built at right angles to the coast. They trap material transported by long shore drift.

35
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of sea walls?

A
  • They prevent erosion of the coast and act as barriers against flooding
  • They create strong backwash which erodes under the wall. They are expensive to build and maintain
36
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of rock armour?

A
  • The boulders absorb wave energy and so reduce erosion and flooding
  • Boulder scan be moved around by strong waves, so need to be replaces
37
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of groynes?

A
  • Groynes create wider beaches which slow the waves. This gives greater protection from flooding and erosion. Also fairly cheap.
  • They starve beaches further down the coast of sand, making them narrower, leading to greater erosion and floods
38
Q

What is beach nourishment?

A

Sand and shingle from elsewhere is added to beaches

39
Q

What is dune regeneration?

A

Creating or restoring sand dunes by either nourishment or by planting vegetation to stabilise sand

40
Q

What is marsh creation?

A

Planting vegetation in mudflats along the coast

41
Q

What is managed retreat?

A

Removing an existing defence and allowing the land behind it to flood

42
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of beach nourishment?

A
  • Creates wider beaches which slow the waves

- Taking material from the seabed can kill organisms and is a very expensive defence which has to be repeated

43
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of dune regeneration?

A
  • Sand dunes provide a barrier between land and sea. Wave energy is absorbed which prevents flooding and erosion
  • The protection is limited to a small area. Nourishment is very expensive
44
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of marsh creation?

A
  • The vegetation stabilises the mudflats and helps reduce the speed of waves, preventing flooding and erosion
  • Marsh creation isn’t useful where erosion rates are high because the marsh can’t establish itself
45
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of managed retreat?

A
  • Over time the land will become marshland, creating new habitats. Flooding and erosion are reduced behind the marshland. Also cheap.
  • People may disagree over what land is allowed to flood.

GCSE Geography - Physical (16 decks)

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