Coasts

Question 1

Wavelength

Answer 1

The distance between two successive crests or troughs

Question 2

Wave height

Answer 2

The distance between the trough and the crest

Question 3

Wave frequency

Answer 3

The number of waves per minute

Question 4

Velocity

Answer 4

The speed of a travelling wave - influence by wind, fetch and water depth

Question 5

Fetch

Answer 5

The amount of open water over which a wave has passed

Question 6

Swash

Answer 6

The movement of water up the beach

Question 7

Backwash

Answer 7

The movement of water down the beach

Question 8

What are the two different types of waves?

Answer 8

Constructive and destructive waves

Question 9

What characterises constructive waves?

Answer 9

Sediment is transported landwards

Question 10

What characterises destructive waves?

Answer 10

Sediment is dragged seawards

Question 11

Longshore drift

Answer 11

Waves move up the beach in one direction, but the waves draining back down the beach take a different route; this action tends to transport materials along the beach

Question 12

TYPES OF EROSION: Hydraulic action

Answer 12

Occurs as waves hit or break against a cliff face

Question 13

TYPES OF EROSION: Abrasion

Answer 13

The process of breaking wave hurling materials, such as pebbles or shingle, against a cliff face

Question 14

TYPES OF EROSION: Attrition

Answer 14

The process in which eroded material, such as broken rock, is worn down to form smaller, rounder beach material.

Question 15

TYPES OF EROSION: Solution

Answer 15

Occurs on limestone and chalk. Calcium carbonate, a salt found in these rocks, dissolves slowly in acidic water.

Question 16

What are a few features of erosion?

Answer 16

• cliffs
• caves
• arches
• stacks
• stumps
• wave cut platform

Question 17

Beach (the technical term ;-)

Answer 17

The term beach refers to the accumulation of material deposited between low spring tides and the highest point reached by storm waves at high spring tides.

Question 18

HWM

Answer 18

High water mark - the level reached by the sea at high tide.

Question 19

LWM

Answer 19

Low water mark - the level reached by the sea at low tide

Question 20

What are the three zones of a ‘typical beach’?

Answer 20

• backshore
• foreshore
• offshore

Question 21

Backshore

Answer 21

Marked by a line of dunes or a cliff

Question 22

Foreshore

Answer 22

Exposed at low tide

Question 23

Offshore

Answer 23

Waves touch the sea bed, material is usually disturbed and sometimes pushed up as offshore bars

Question 24

Spit

Answer 24

A beach of sand or shingle linked at one end to land.

Question 25

Tombolos

Answer 25

Ridges that link the mainland to an island

Question 26

Succession

Answer 26

The growth of new plants

Question 27

What are coral reefs?

Answer 27

Coral reefs are calcium carbonate structures, made up of reef-building stony corals

Question 28

Fringing reefs

Answer 28

These are the reefs that fringe the coast of a landmass

Question 29

Barrier reefs Example: the Great Barrier Reef

Answer 29

Occur at a greater distance from shore than fringing reefs and are typically separated from it by a deep, wide lagoon

Question 30

Atoll reefs

Answer 30

Rise from submerged volcanic foundations

Question 31

Mangroves

Answer 31

Mangroves are salt-tolerant forests of trees and shrubs that grow in the tidal estuaries and coastal zones of tropical areas

Question 32

What has been named one of the most dangerous natural hazards to people and the environment?

Answer 32

Hurricanes (in Asia, also known as tropical cyclones)

Question 33

What do hurricanes do?

Answer 33

Move excess heat from low latitudes to higher latitudes

Question 34

FUN FACT ABOUT HURRICANES

Answer 34

The path of a hurricane is erratic, so it is not always possible to give more than 12 hours notice.

Question 35

What is the lowest windspeed of a hurricane?

Answer 35

A storm is not classed as a hurricane unless it has a wind speed of over 118 km/hr