Erosional Features Flashcards
Cave
A natural underground chamber in a hillside or cliff. Caves occur when waves force their way into cracks in the cliff face.
Arch
A curved symmetrical structure spanning an opening.
Stack
A geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column of rock in the sea near a coast, formed by wave erosion. They are formed over time by wind and water.
Stump
Formed when a stack is eroded as the stack would collapse, leaving the stump.
Raised Beach
A former beach now lying above water level owing to geological changes since its formation.
Spit
A deposition beach landform off coasts or lake shores. It develops in places where re-entrance occurs, such as at a cove’s headlands, created by the process of longshore drift.
Recurved Spit
Wave refraction can occur at the end of a spit, carrying sediment around the end to form a hook or recurved spit.
Wave-Cut Notch
Formed when sea waves undercut the base of a cliff. As the force of the waves continually weaken the base, the overhanging rock or the area above the notch eventually caves in.
Wave-Cut Platform
The narrow flat area often found at the base of a sea cliff or along the shoreline of a lake, bay, or sea that was created by the erosion of waves.
Blowhole
A blow hole is formed when a joint between a sea cave and the land surface above the cave becomes enlarged and air can pass through it. As water flows into the cave, air is expelled through the pipe like joint, sometimes producing an impressive blast of air or spray which appears to appear from underground.
Coastal Recession
The wearing away of land and the removal of beach or dune sediments by wave action, tidal currents, wave currents, drainage or high winds.
Thermal Expansion
The tendency of matter to change in shape, area, and volume in response to a change in temperature.
