Coasts EQ1

Question 1

What is the littoral zone?

Answer 1

An area of shoreline where land is subject to wave action

Question 2

How can we categorise coasts?

Answer 2

Rocky coasts + coastal plain
High energy + low energy
Erosional + depositional
Emergent + submegent

Question 3

What is deltamic coast?

Answer 3

Dominated by river sediment

Question 4

What is the back shore zone?

Answer 4

Above high tide level + only affected by waves during exceptionally high tides + major storms

Question 5

What is the foreshore zone?

Answer 5

Where wave process occur between high + low tide margins

Question 6

What is the nearshore zone?

Answer 6

Shallow water areas close to land + used extensively for fishing and leisure

Question 7

What is the offshore zone?

Answer 7

The open sea

Question 8

What is a coastal system?

Answer 8

Imputs energy from winds creates waves which hit the cliff causing it to erode

Question 9

What is a discordant coastline?

Answer 9

Hard + soft rock run perpendicular to the coast
Creates bays and headlands

Question 10

What is a concordant coastline?

Answer 10

Hard + soft rock run parallel to the coast

Question 11

What is a Dalmatian coastline?

Answer 11

The Dalmatian coast in Croatia is another example of a concordant coastline

Formed as a result of tectonic forces and sea level rise

Tectonic activity forms anticlines and syncline which run parallel to the sea

Sea level rise after the Devensian Glacial then flooded the synclines leaving the anticlines standing above the water

The result is a series of islands which run parallel to the coast

Question 12

What is a haff coastline?

Answer 12

Different types of concordant coastline, found southern fringes of Baltic Sea
Long sediment ridges run parallel to coast just off shore creating lagoons

Question 13

What is strata?

Answer 13

Layers of rock

Question 14

What are bedding planes?

Answer 14

Horizontal cracks between strata
Lines of weakness caused by gaps in time during period of rock formation

Question 15

What are joints?

Answer 15

cracks created without displacement by tectonic forces

Question 16

What are faults?

Answer 16

Faults are major fractures in rock created by tectonic forces, with displacement of rocks either side of the fault line

Question 17

What are folds?

Answer 17

Formed by pressure during tectonic activity
Presses together
types of folds- anticylnes and synclynes
anticlynes can become caves

Question 18

What is seaward dipping strata?

Answer 18

Strata pointing down to the sea
Lots of landslides , coastal recession and rockfall

Question 19

What is landward dipping strata?

Answer 19

Strata that points down away from the sea towards the base of the cliff
Steep overhanging sections

Question 20

What is horizontal strata?

Answer 20

Horizontal layers of rock - will likely be a steep sided cliff

Question 21

What are characteristics of igneous rock?

Answer 21

Igneous rocks are formed from solidified lava or magma.
They erode and weather very slowly because:
It’s composed of interlocking crystals forming hard, resistant rock
they have less joints, crystalline, low porosity

Question 22

What are examples of igneous rock?

Answer 22

Granite
Diorite
Basalt

Question 23

What are the recession rates of igneous rock?

Answer 23

1mm/yr or less

Question 24

What are characteristics of metamorphic rock?

Answer 24

It has a interlocking crystalline structure
However, it is less resistant than igneous rock
recession rates are 1-10 cm a year

Question 25

What are examples of metamorphic rocks?

Answer 25

Marble Schist Slate

Question 26

What are the characteristics of sedimentary rocks?

Answer 26

Permeable clastic Jointed Some porous depends on cementation as cementation increases erosion resistance

Question 27

What are examples of sedimentary rocks?

Answer 27

Sandstone Limestone Chalk Shale

Question 28

What is unconsolidated materials?

Answer 28

Boulder clay Lose and easily eroded very weak cementation

Question 29

What are examples of unconsolidated materials?

Answer 29

Holderness coastline 1-10m/yr

Question 30

How does vegetation stabilise coasts?

Answer 30

Roots of plants-bind particles together= harder to erode Plants cover surface of sediment- act as protective layer avoiding exposure to moving water Plants act as obstacles- reduce wind speed

Question 31

How does sand dune succession occur?

Answer 31

1. Sand gathers around obstacle on strand line 2. Hardy plants colonise on small embryo dunes 3. Small dunes grow into large dunes as more sand accumulates 4. After series of plants changes, climate community reached marks end of succession

Question 32

What is salt marsh succession?

Answer 32

-low energy coastline needed eg. behind spit or estuary -mud and silt deposited by tides -halophytes eg.glasswort begin to colonise -these trap even more sediment and is flooded and drained by salt water brought in by tide -soil composed of deep mud and peat -Eventually, the area becomes so raised it only floods during very high tides. A more complex plant community develops. -good natural flood defence

Question 33

why can some sedimentary rocks be stronger than igneous rocks

Answer 33

all rocks are different

Question 34

xerophyte

Answer 34

plants that can survive very dry conditions eg. cactus

Question 35

halophyte

Answer 35

plants that can survive very salty conditions eg. glasswort/marram grass

Question 36

whats sucession

Answer 36

changes to a plant community over time, bare sediment colonised by plants