Coasts EQ1 Flashcards
(22 cards)
What is the littoral zone?
The wider coastal zone, including adjacent land areas and shallow parts of the sea just offshore
What are rocky coastlines?
Cliffs varying in height from a few to hundreds of metres
What are coastal plains (alluvial coasts)?
The land gradually slopes towards the sea across an area of deposited sediment eg. sand dunes/mud flats
What are primary coasts?
Dominated by land based processes eg. deposition from rivers/land from lava flows
What are secondary coasts?
Dominated by marine erosion or deposition processes from the sea
What are emergent coasts?
Where the coasts are rising relative to sea level eg. tectonic uplift
What are low energy coastlines?
Sheltered coasts with limited fetch and low wind speeds resulting in small waves
What are high energy coastlines?
Exposed coasts facing prevailing winds with long wave fetches resulting in powerful waves
What is a cliff profile?
The height and angle of a cliff face as well as its features eg. wave cut notches/changes in slope angle
What is coastal accretion?
The deposition of sediment at the coast and the seaward growth of the coastline, creating new land
What is dynamic equilibrium?
The balanced state of a system when inputs and outputs balance over time
What is ‘the coast’?
The frontier between land and sea, part of the land most affected by proximity to the sea and vice versa, a zone of transition
What is the littoral zone?
The wider coastal zone including adjacent land areas and shallow parts of the sea just offshore (boundary between land + sea)
What is the back shore?
Part of the coast usually above the influence of waves (above high tide level)
What is the foreshore?
The intertidal or surf zone between high tide and low tide where wave processes normally occur
What is the nearshore?
The breaker zone- shallow water area close to the land
What is the offshore?
Part of the littoral zone beyond the influence of waves (with human activity eg fishing/watersports)
What are the short term factors of why the littoral zone is constantly changing?
-Individual Waves
-Daily Tides
-Seasonal Storms
What are the long term factors of why the littoral zone is constantly changing?
-Rising sea level
-Climate Change/Global Warming
-Geology of the Coastline?
What are the characteristics of a rocky/cliffed coastline?
-Resistant rocks
-High energy environment
-Abrupt transition from land to sea
What are the characteristics of coastal plains/ alluvial coasts?
-Sandy or estuarine
-Less resistant rocks
-Low energy environments
-Gradual transition from land to sea
