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Geography Physical > Coastal Zone > Flashcards

Coastal Zone Flashcards

(46 cards)

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1
Q

What causes waves?

A

The wind

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2
Q

What are the 2 types of waves?

A

Constructive and destructive

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3
Q

What is swash and backwash?

A

Swash is the movement of the wave towards the beach.

Backwash is the movement of the wave away from the beach.

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4
Q

What are the characteristics of constructive waves? (4)

A
  • Swash is stronger than the backwash
  • Low wave in proportion to length
  • Deposition - builds beaches
  • Most common in summer
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5
Q

What are the characteristics of destructive waves? (4)

A
  • Backwash is stronger than the swash
  • High wave in proportion to length
  • Carries rocks/sand back to sea
  • Most common in winter
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6
Q

What are the different types of weathering?

A
  • Physical weathering
    • Freeze-thaw weathering
    • Exfoliation
  • Chemical weathering
  • Biological weathering
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7
Q

Explain freeze-thaw weathering

A
  1. Water collects in cracks/holes
  2. At night the water freezes and expands
  3. This widens the cracks in the rock
  4. The ice melts and refreezes over and over again
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8
Q

Explain exfoliation

A
  1. Found where there are large temperature variations
  2. Heating and cooling of a rock causes the rock to expand and contract
  3. Eventually the outer layer flakes off
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9
Q

Explain chemical weathering

A

Rain reacts with and dissolves rocks such as limestone and chalk

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10
Q

Explain biological weathering

A

The actions of plants and animals. Plant roots grow in rocks and expanding cracks. Rabbits digging into weak rocks

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11
Q

What is mass movement?

A

Downhill movement of material under the influence of gravity

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12
Q

Give some examples of mass movement? (4)

A
  • Rockfalls
  • Mud-flows
  • Rotational slip
  • Landslide
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13
Q

What are the proceses of coastal erosion? (4)

A
  • Hydraulic action (force of the water hitting the cliffs)
  • Abrasion (waves pick up loose stones and throw them against the cliff)
  • Attrition (materials hit each other and become smaller and rounder over time)
  • Solution (certain rocks being eroded from the sea water)
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14
Q

What are the processes of coastal transport? (4)

A
  • Traction (big boulders roll)
  • Saltation (smaller pebbles bounce along sea bed)
  • Suspension (lighter particles are suspended in the water
  • Solution (chemicals are dissolved in the water)
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15
Q

What is longshore drift?

A

The movement of material down the coast by waves

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16
Q

What angle do waves hit the beach?

A

45º

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17
Q

What angle do waves move away from a beach?

A

90º - perpendicular

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18
Q

What is a headland?

A

A bit of land that juts out to sea

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19
Q

What is a bay?

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A

A coastal inlet that often has a beach

20
Q

What’s the difference between concordant and disconcordant coasts?

21
Q

How are wave cut platforms formed?

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A
  1. Waves create a notch in the bottom of a cliff
  2. The notch gets bigger (overhang) until the top of the cliff is no longer supported and it collapses
  3. This happens over and over again - the cliff retreats
  4. Where the cliff was will be a gently sloping rocky platform
22
Q

What are the characteristics of wave cut platforms?

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A
  • Quite smooth due to abrasion
  • Could be rock pools
  • Can be covered in sand/shingle in summer but not in winter
23
Q

What landforms are formed at headlands?

Study These Flashcards
A
  • Arch
  • Stack
  • Stump
24
Q

What landforms result from deposition?

Study These Flashcards
A
  • Beaches
  • Spits
  • Bars
25
What is a **spit**?
A narrow finger of sand and shingle jutting out into the sea from the land
26
How are spits **formed**?
1. Sediment is transported down the coast by longshore drift 2. It deposits at a point where the coastline changes direction or a at a river mouth 3. More sediment is deposited over time which builds up a spit
27
What forms behind a spit?
Mudflats and salt marshes
28
What is **bar**?
A spit but it grows fully across a bay
29
Why are sea levels rising?
* Global warming heats up the sea causing the water molecules to expand * Glaciers melting *
30
Why do cliffs collapse?
* Base of cliff is eroded by hydraulic action and abrasion, making the cliff steeper * Weathering weakens the rock * Heavy rain saturates the permeable rock making the cliff heavy * Eventually the cliff becomes too heavy and it collapses
31
What are the **hard engineering** strategies for **coastal management**?
* Groynes * Revetments * Sea walls * Rock armour (rip-rap)
32
What are the **soft engineering** strategies for **coastal management**?
* Beach nourishment * Dune regeneration * Marsh creation
33
How do **groynes/revetments** work?
They stop longshore drift by trapping sediment. This builds up to make a big beach which decreases the amount of energy the waves have
34
How do **sea walls** work?
A curved concrete wall is built at cliffs. It reflects waves back to the sea
35
How does **rock armour** work?
Big rocks are imported and put on the base of the cliff. They absorb the waves energy
36
What are the advantages/disadvantages of **sea walls**?
Advantages: * Effective * Often has a walkway Disadvantages: * Up to £6 million per km * Unatural * Prevents easy beach access
37
What are the advantages/disadvantages of **groynes**?
Advantages: * Cheap * Bigger beach can attract tourists * Useful for fishers Disadvantages: * Starve beaches of sediment down the coast leading to increased erosion there * Ugly
38
What are the advantages/disadvantages of **rock armour**?
Advantages: * Easy to build * Cheap and easy to maintain * Can be used for fishers Disadvantages: * Expensive to transport the rocks * Don't fit with local geology * Ugly
39
How does **beach nourishment** work?
Sand and shingle is added to the beach
40
How does **dune regeneration** work?
Marram grass is planted. Areas can be fenced off to keep people off newly planted grass.
41
How does **marsh creation** work?
Allowing low lying coastal areas to become salt marshes. Salt marshes are the barrier
42
What are the advantages/disadvantages of **beach nourishment**?
Advantages: * Cheap * Blends in with existing beach * Increases tourist potential Disadvantages: * Needs constant maintenance unless groynes are built
43
What are the advantages/disadvantages of **dune regeneration**?
Advantages: * Maintains a natural coastal environment that's popular with people and wildlife * Cheap Disadvantages: * Time consuming * People don't like being prohibited from certain areas * Can be damaged by storms
44
What are the advantages/disadvantages of **marsh creation**?
Advantages: * Creates a habitat for wildlife * Cheap Disadvantages: * Land will be lost * Farmers/land owners will need to be compensated
45
What is **managed retreat**?
Allowing areas to be flooded or cliffs to collapse in areas with little value for example poor quality grazing land
46
What are the characteristics of a **sand dune environment**? (6)
* A large area exposed between high and low tides * A prevailing onshore wind * A large supply of fine sand * Extremely arid (no water) * Large amounts of salt spray * Alkaline conditions

Geography Physical (17 decks)

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