Paper 1.3 Flashcards
What is mechanical weathering?
The breakdown of rock without changing its chemical composition.
What occurs during freeze-thaw weathering?
Water enters rocks with cracks, freezes, puts pressure on the rock, and when it melts, it releases pressure, causing the rock to break up.
What is chemical weathering?
The breakdown of rock by changing its chemical composition.
What is carbonation weathering?
Occurs in warm wet conditions where carbon dioxide dissolves in rainwater to form carbonic acid, reacting with rocks containing calcium carbonate.
Define mass movement.
The shifting of rocks and loose material down a slope due to gravity.
What is sliding in the context of mass movement?
Material shifts in a straight line along a slide plane.
What is slumping?
Material rotates along a curved slip plane.
What happens during rockfalls?
Material breaks up, often along bedding planes, and falls down a slope.
How are waves created?
When winds blow over the sea, transferring energy to create waves.
What are destructive waves?
Waves that erode the coast, have a high frequency, and have stronger backwash than swash.
What are constructive waves?
Waves that deposit material, have a low frequency, and stronger swash than backwash.
What is hydraulic action?
When waves crash against rock and compress the air in the cracks, causing material to break off.
What is abrasion?
When eroded particles in the water scrape the rock and remove small pieces.
What is attrition?
When eroded particles in the water collide and break into smaller, more rounded pieces.
Define longshore drift.
Waves hit the coast at an oblique angle, causing material to zigzag along the shore.
What is traction in transportation?
Large boulders are pushed along the sea bed by the water.
What is suspension?
Small particles like clay are carried in the water.
What is saltation?
Pebble-sized particles are bounced along the sea bed by the water.
What is solution in transportation?
Soluble minerals dissolve in water and are carried along.
What occurs during deposition?
Water carrying sediment loses energy and slows down, leading to the accumulation of material.
How does coastal rock type affect erosion?
Hard rocks take longer to erode compared to soft rocks; rocks with faults erode faster.
What is a discordant coastline?
A coastline made of alternating bands of soft and hard rock at 90 degrees to the coast.
What is a concordant coastline?
A coastline where the alternating bands of soft and hard rock are parallel to the coast.
What are headlands and bays?
Landforms that form on discordant coastlines where softer rock erodes quickly to create bays.