The Sea Flashcards
Constructive waves
Everyday waves, strong wash and weak backwash, deposit material on beach
Destructive waves
Stormy weather, weak swash and strong backwash, able to erode and deposit
Swash
Wave that crashes onto beach
Backwash
Wave that re-enters sea
Hydraulic action
Power of water eroding as it crashes against the coast
Abrasion
Stones in the water thrown against the coast, eroding it
Compressed air
Air in rocks trapped by incoming waves, the air puts pressure on the rocks, the air in the rocks expands when the wave retreats causing the rocks to shatter
Attrition
Stones carried by the water hitting off one another
Solution
Rocks being dissolved by water
Bay
Wide curved opening in the coast
Headland
Area of land beside a bay that juts out into the sea
How does a bay and headlands form?
A band of soft rock e.g limestone, between two bands of hard rock e.g granite, the sea erodes the softer rock quicker
Groynes
Concrete or wooden walls built out into the sea, reducing longshore drift by trapping the sediment carried by waves
Sea walls
Walls to break the power of the wave from eroding the coast, curved at the top to push wave back out to sea
Gabions
Steel wire cages filled with stones doing the same job as sea walls