Coastal environment terms

Question 1

What is wave action?

Answer 1

The shaping of the coast by the action of waves.

Question 2

What is erosion?

Answer 2

The wearing away of land by water, wind, and ice.

Question 3

What is deposition?

Answer 3

Laying down material carried by waves.

Question 4

What is transportation?

Answer 4

Movement of material within water.

Question 5

What is longshore drift?

Answer 5

Zig-zag movement of beach material along the coast by waves.

Question 6

What is mechanical weathering?

Answer 6

Breakdown of rock by physical factors (wind, water, temperature).

Question 7

What is chemical weathering?

Answer 7

Breakdwon of rock through chemical changes, often by water.

Question 8

What is biological weathering?

Answer 8

Breakdown of rock by plants and animals.

Question 9

What is mass movement?

Answer 9

Downhill movement of material due to gravity.

Question 10

What is sliding?

Answer 10

Saturated material moves down a slope.

Question 11

What is sliding?

Answer 11

Whoel segment of cliff moves downslope along a shear plane.

Question 12

What are headlands?

Answer 12

Resistant rock protruding/sticking out into the sea.

Question 13

What are bays?

Answer 13

Found between headlands where softer rock erodes more quickly.

Question 14

What are cliffs?

Answer 14

Steep rock faces formed by erosion of resistant rock.

Question 15

What are wave-cut platforms?

Answer 15

Gently sloping rock exposed at low tide.

Question 16

What are caves?

Answer 16

Formed by erosion of weak points in resistant rock.

Question 17

What are arches?

Answer 17

Wave-eroded passages through headlands.

Question 18

What are stacks?

Answer 18

Pillars of rock left after an arch collapses

Question 19

What are stumps?

Answer 19

Formed when a sea stack collapses due to wave action.

Question 20

What are sand dunes?

Answer 20

Hills of sand formed by wind, located behind beaches.

Question 21

What are Salt marshes?

Answer 21

Coastal grasslands regularly flooded by seawater.

Question 22

Abiotic

Answer 22

Non-living components of an ecosystem.

Question 23

Biotic

Answer 23

Living components of an ecosystem.

Question 24

Industrialisation

Answer 24

Economic shift toward manufacturing and secondary acticities.

Question 25

Agricultural practices

Answer 25

Methods farmer use to cultivate land.

Question 26

Tourism

Answer 26

Industry of travelling for pleasure

Question 27

Deforestation

Answer 27

Large-sclae clearing of forests.

Question 28

What are spits

Answer 28

Narrow sand accumulation extending from land into the sea

Question 29

What are bars

Answer 29

Ridges of sand blocking a bay or lagoon

Question 30

What are beaches

Answer 30

Temporary sand deposits along the coast

Question 31

What are destructive waves?

Answer 31

Powerful waves causing erosion; strong BACKWASH.

Question 32

What are constructive waves?

Answer 32

Gentle waves depositing materials; strong SWASH

Question 33

What is swash?

Answer 33

Forward movement of water up a beach.

Question 34

What is backwash?

Answer 34

Water returning to the sea after a wave breaks.

Question 35

What is prevailing wind?

Answer 35

Common wind direction in a region.

Question 36

What is sediment cell?

Answer 36

System where sediment circulates along a coast.

Question 37

What is a fetch?

Answer 37

Maximum water distance wind can blow across.

Question 38

What is a berm?

Answer 38

Raised sand ridge at the back of a beach.

Question 39

What is a ria?

Answer 39

River valley flooded by rising sea levels.

Question 40

What is fjord?

Answer 40

Steep-sided valley flooded by sea due to glacier movement.

Question 41

What are raised beaches?

Answer 41

Beaches elevated due to tfalling sea levels.

Question 42

What is biodiversity?

Answer 42

Variety of life in an ecosystem.

Question 43

What is salinity?

Answer 43

Amount of salt in a body of water.

Question 44

What is estuary

Answer 44

Tidal river mouths with exposed mudflats at low tide.

Question 45

What is brackish?

Answer 45

Slightly salty water, typical of estuaries.

Question 46

What is food chain?

Answer 46

Sequence of organisms dependent on each otehr for food.

Question 47

What are Coral reefs?

Answer 47

Underwater ecosystems made of coral colonies.

Question 48

What is intertidal zone?

Answer 48

Area between high and low tide marks.

Question 49

What is plant succession?

Answer 49

Gradual replacement of plant species over time.

Question 50

What is biomass?

Answer 50

Total mass of living organisms in an area.

Question 51

What is litter?

Answer 51

Dead plant material on the soil surface.