Coastal Systems And Landscapes

Question 1

Abrasion

Answer 1

A form of erosion where loose material ‘sandpaper’s’ the walls and floors of a river, cliff or glacier.

Question 2

Back shore

Answer 2

The upper beach, closest to land

Question 3

Beach morphology

Answer 3

The surface shape of the beach

Question 4

Coastal recession

Answer 4

The retreat of a coastline due to erosion, sea level rise or submergence

Question 5

Concordant coastline

Answer 5

A coastline where bands of alternate geology run parallel to the coast

Question 6

Corrasion

Answer 6

A form of erosion when breaking waves fling material at a cliff face, physically knocking off material

Question 7

Corrosion

Answer 7

The acid in sea water and some types of sea weed attacks particular rock minerals, causing erosion and weakening

Question 8

Dalmatian coast

Answer 8

A concordant coastline with several river valleys running perpendicular to the coast. They become flooded to produce parallel long islands

Question 9

DEFRA’s 1:1 cost benefit analysis

Answer 9

The evaluation of a coastal town’s economic value compared to the cost of the management required. Costs are tangible and intangible, could be money or visual impact

Question 10

Discordant coastline

Answer 10

A coastline where alternate geology run perpendicular to the shore

Question 11

Dynamic equilibrium

Answer 11

Where a natural system tries to achieve balance by making constant changes in response to a constantly changing system

Question 12

Emergent coast

Answer 12

A coastline that is advancing relative to the sea level at the time

Question 13

Eustatic

Answer 13

Global changes to sea level

Question 14

Fetch

Answer 14

The distance the wave travels before it reaches the shoreline.

Question 15

Fjord

Answer 15

Long narrow inlet deeper in the middle section than at the mouth, created when sea levels rise relative to the land, flooding coastal glacial valleys

Question 16

Foreshore

Answer 16

The lower part of the beach covered twice a day at high tide, receives the most regular wave action

Question 17

Freeze thaw

Answer 17

A fork of physical sub aerial weathering where water freezes in the cracks of a rock, expands and enlarges the crack, therefore weakens the rock

Question 18

Geology

Answer 18

The structure and arrangement of a rock

Question 19

Glacial erosion

Answer 19

The removal of loose material by glacier ice, involving plucking, abrasion, crushing and basal melt water

Question 20

High energy environment

Answer 20

A coastline where wave action is predominantly large destructive waves, causing erosion

Question 21

Hydraulic action

Answer 21

The pressure of compressed air forced into cracks in a rock face will cause the rock the weaken and break apart

Question 22

Integrated coastal zone management (ICZM)

Answer 22

Large sections of coastline are managed with one integrated strategy and management occurred between different political boundaries

Question 23

Impermeable

Answer 23

A rock that does not allow rainwater to pass through

Question 24

Isostatic

Answer 24

A change in the height of the coastline relative to the sea

Question 25

Littoral cell

Answer 25

A section of the coast, within which involves much sediment movement. A littoral cell is not a closed system

Question 26

Longshore drift

Answer 26

The transportation of sediment along a beach. Determined by direction of prevailing wind

Question 27

Low energy environment

Answer 27

A coastline where wave action is predominantly small contrastive waves, causing deposition

Question 28

Beach accretion

Answer 28

Process of coastal sediment returning to visible portion of beach or foreshore

Question 29

Mass movement

Answer 29

The falling or movement of rock

Question 30

Nearshore

Answer 30

The area before the shore where wave steepness and breaks before they reach the shore and then reform before breaking on the beach. Extremes from low tide zone then out to sea

Question 31

Permeable

Answer 31

A rock that allows rainwater to pass through it

Question 32

Plant succession

Answer 32

Change to a plant community due to growing conditions adapting (e.g. salt marsh)

Question 33

Ria

Answer 33

Narrow winding inlet which is deepest at the mouth, formed when sea levels rise causing coastal valleys to flood

Question 34

Saltation

Answer 34

Smaller sediment bounces along the sea bed, being pushed by currents, as it’s too heavy to be picked up by flow of water

Question 35

Sediment cell

Answer 35

Section of the coast bordered by prominent headlands. Within these sections, the movement of sediment of almost contained and the flows of sediment should act in dynamic equilibrium

Question 36

Sediment budget

Answer 36

Use data of inputs, outputs, stores and transfers to asses the gains and losses of sediment within a cell

Question 37

SMP

Answer 37

Identifies all of the activities, both natural and human, which occur within the coastline area of each cell and then recommends a combination of 4 actions for each stretch of that coastline

Question 38

Hold the line

Answer 38

Coastal defences are maintained to protect a coastline from the impacts of rising sea levels and erosion, no new ones are built

Question 39

Advance the line

Answer 39

New defences are built further into sea in an attempt to revise the stress on current defences and possibly extend the coastline

Question 40

Managed retreat

Answer 40

Move people and allow coastal processes to occur

Question 41

Do nothing

Answer 41

The area is no of any value, coastal processes are ignored

Question 42

Sub aerial processes

Answer 42

The combination of mass movement and weathering thats affects coastal land above the sea

Question 43

Submergent coast

Answer 43

A coast that is sinking relative to the sea level

Question 44

Till

Answer 44

Deposits of angular rocks fragments in a finer medium

Question 45

Wave quarrying

Answer 45

When the air is trapped and compressed against a cliff which causes rock fragments to break off the cliff over time

Question 46

Hard engineering

Answer 46

Construction of physical structures to protect coasts

Question 47

Soft engineering

Answer 47

The natural environment is used to help reduce coastal erosion, it uses sustainable ecological practice to restore shoreline stabilisation