Wind Flashcards
(14 cards)
True or false: wind energy is a primary source of energy for other coastal processes?
True
What causes spatial variations in energy?
Variations in the strength and duration of winds cause spatial variations.
Where is wave energy likely to be higher?
Wave every is likely to be higher where the wind speeds are persistently high and uninterrupted.
What do local weather patterns influence?
They influence short term changes in wind speed and direction.
What does the prevailing wind control?
The prevailing wind is just one of the factors that control the direction that waves approach the coastline and the direction of the transport of material in the coastal zone.
What is fetch?
This refers to the distance of open water over which a wind blows uninterrupted by major land obstacles.
What does the length of the fetch help to determine?
It helps to determine the magnitude (size) and energy of the waves reaching the coast.
What does wind play a vital role in?
Wind plays a vital role in wave formation.
How are waves created?
Waves are created by the transfer of energy from the “frictional drag” of the wind.
What is the “frictional drag” of the wind?
This is the transfer of energy from the wind blowing over the sea surface.
What is wind an agent of?
Erosion
How does the wind erode the coast?
It can pick up and remove sediment from the coast and then use it to erode other features.
What is abrasion?
This is a type of wind erosion where the wind uses the material it carries to wear away landscape features.
What other type of agent is wind?
It is an agent of transportation as it moves sediment along the coast and inland from the shoreline and beyond the tidal zone.
