Coastal environment - WJEC - Flashcards in A Level and IB Geography

What are the main inputs, out puts, stores and transfers?

Inputs: energy,geology,change in sea level, human activities. Processes: weathering and mass movement, erosion. Transfers: transport. Stores:deposition.Outputs: coastal landforms, sediment loss, loss of wave energy.

1 of 113

How does equilibrium effect a beach in the winter?

high energy waves deposited a storm beach and off shore bar.The storm beach becomes flatter due to stronger swosh. beach becomes steeper as off shore bare is deposited onto it. bach profile becoves overall flatter untill swosh and back wsh are equal

2 of 113

How does equilibrium effect a beach in the summer?

low energy waves transport sediment onto beach, making profile steeper. This makes the backwash more powerful making the beach profile flatter until swosh and backwash are equal.

3 of 113

What is fetch?

max. distance of open water over which wind can blow

4 of 113

What are sea waves?

From local winds (small - less distance)

5 of 113

What are swell waves?

From distant storms (larger - more distance)

6 of 113

Why do waves break?

Added friction

7 of 113

Wht are the two types of waves and their main features ?

Destructive(spilling): large height, steep,small length. Constructive(surging): small height,relatively flat, large wave length

8 of 113

What is wave refraction?

At shallower depth (near land) break first compared to in deeper water- making the wave bend.

9 of 113

What happens to a headland in wave refraction?

Erosion energy if focus on

10 of 113

What is the flow of offshore currents?

Out to sea

11 of 113

What is the flow of onshore currents?

Towards the coast

12 of 113

What are rip currents?

Backwash is funneled back out through deeper water

13 of 113

What are the diagram called showing wind direction?

Wind rose

14 of 113

What are tides?

Daily change in the level of sea

15 of 113

What is tidal change?

The difference between high and low tide

16 of 113

What causes tides?

Gravitational pull of the moon/sun

17 of 113

What is neap tide?

Moon is NOT in line with the sun

18 of 113

What is a spring tide?

Moon is inline with the sun

19 of 113

What is a tidal bore?

Current of a river 'flips' and goes up stream

20 of 113

Where in the world experiences the strongest winds?

High latitude

21 of 113

Where in the world experiences the weakest winds?

Low latitude

22 of 113

What is the coastal sediment budget?

It refers to the balance between sediment added to and removed from the coastal budget.

23 of 113

Where does beach sediment come from(what are the main two types)?

marine: waves bringing in material, marine organism. Terrestrial: human activity, cliff erosion, rivers

24 of 113

A positive sediment budget is '------'

bigger

25 of 113

A negative sediment budget is '-------'

smaller

26 of 113

How is sediment lost in the sediment budget?

Rivers taking out sediment to sea, people

27 of 113

How is sediment gained in the sediment budget?

People, storms (from deep water)

28 of 113

Types of what are the main 4 types of erosion?

Corrasion, Attrition, Solution, Hydraulic action

29 of 113

What is corrasion?

Waves 'throwing' sediment at cliff - causing to break down

30 of 113

What is attrition?

Sediment hitting each other - causing to break down

31 of 113

What is solution?

Minerals and rock particles are dissolved causing to break down

32 of 113

What is Hydraulic action?

Waves forcing into creak and faults in the rock, making them expand causing to break down

33 of 113

What are the 3 main types of weathering?

Physical (freeze-thaw) Chemical (acid rain) Biotic (roots,bird droppings,animals)

34 of 113

What effects the rate and type of weathering?

Amount of wildlife, Climate (acid rain,wind,rainfall,temp), rock and soil type

35 of 113

What is a discordant coastline?

Strata bands are perpendicular to the sea

36 of 113

What are the main features formed on discordant coastline?

Headlands and bays

37 of 113

What is a concordant coastline?

Strata bands are parallel to the sea?

38 of 113

2 types of resistant rock?

Chalk and Limestone

39 of 113

2 types of less rsistancant rock?

Clay and Sandstone

40 of 113

What is the case study for discordant and concordant coastlines?

South coast (Lulworth cove, and Swanage Bay)

41 of 113

What is a coastal cliff?

A steep slope which rises from the sea

42 of 113

How are coastal cliffs formed?

1. erosion only happens between low and high tide 2.wave notch 3. notch grows bigger 4. wave cut platform and cliff form due to collapse 5. slows down due to dispersed of waves (side note:sub aerial weather attacks from a top also)

43 of 113

What is lithology?

The mechanical and chemical properties of rocks. It includes such factors as minerals composition,hardness and solubility

44 of 113

What is structure?

The pattern in the layering of the rocks that makeup the coastline

45 of 113

What are the 4 types of dipping strata?

Horizontal,vertical, Seaward and inland

46 of 113

What causes mass movement? (There are 4)

Erosion, Weathering,Natural disasters,Human activity

47 of 113

What are the main 4 types of mass movement?

Landslide,Rockfall,Mudslide,Rotational slip/slump

48 of 113

What are landslides?

Cliffs made of softer rock/deposited material, which slips down when lubricated (keeps shape till at bottom)

49 of 113

What are rockfalls?

Blocks of rocks, dislodged by weathering fall to the cliff foot.

50 of 113

What are mudslides?

Rock/soil moves like a liquid (liquid movement) down a cliff

51 of 113

What is rotational slips/slumps?

Sections of the cliff give way along a well-defined concave slip surface. fallen material stays in an identifiable mass on the shore

52 of 113

What is the case study for landslides?

Beachy Head

53 of 113

What is the case study for rotational slips?

Barton on Sea

54 of 113

What is the case study for rockfall?

North cliffs in Cornwell

55 of 113

How are caves, arches stacks and stumps formed?

Faults/weakness attacked- erosion making them expand. Wave refraction focus energy on headland expanding, form cave. Erosion breaks through = arch. Erosion/weathering leads= collapse=stack. erosion continue = stump.

56 of 113

What are is the case study for caves, arches stacks and stumps?

Old Harrys Rocks

57 of 113

How are blowholes and geos formed?

Erosion long back of cave and along the line of weakness till breaks through (blowholes). The roof of the cave collapses a narrow inlet/geo is formed.

58 of 113

What are the names of the transportation methods?

Traction, Saltation, Suspension, Solution

59 of 113

What is traction?

Large rocks roll/push along sea bed by current.

60 of 113

What is saltation?

Smaller rocks/pebbles 'hop' along sea bed (current pick up and drop).

61 of 113

What is suspension?

Very fine material is suspended in the sea.

62 of 113

What is solution?

Dissolved salts in the water.

63 of 113

What is a positive hypothesis?

There will be a relationship between the two compassion.

64 of 113

What is a null hypothesis?

There is no statistically significant correlation between the two compassion.

65 of 113

standard deviation - the bigger the number the ----- reliable the data is.

Less

66 of 113

Why do beaches have patterns of sediment?

Wave energy.Tidal range.Wave type. Storm surge. Human activity

67 of 113

What is systematic sampling?

Choosing items at regular intervals e.g. every 20m

68 of 113

What is random sampling?

Equal chance of being selected - using a computer generated to create items such as grid references.

69 of 113

What is stratified sampling?

If know groups/class of data- its possible to make sure a representative of each ids in the data. e.g. different rock types are evidence along a coast line, so get data from different areas of different geology

70 of 113

What is point sampling?

Take observations at individual points. e.g. different houses long a street.

71 of 113

What is line sampling?

Take observations along a line. e.g. up a beach from sea to base of a cliff.

72 of 113

What is area sampling?

Make a square on the ground/map. take observations within that square. e.g. place a quadrat on the beach and measure pebble shape

73 of 113

What are the 'markers' in the angularity of beach sediment?

Unrounded, angular, sub angular, poorly rounded, rounded, well rounded.

74 of 113

What order do the appear from back to front on a beach? (cusps, berms, ripples, storm beach)

Storm beach, berms, cusps, ripples.

75 of 113

Describe a berm

The further back the berm is the stronger the storm was after the 'big storm' was which formed the storm beach. (weaker storms = berms)

76 of 113

What causes ripples?

Under breaking waves form oscillations (small waving bit under the breaking waves)

77 of 113

What is a sweep zone?

The difference between winter and summer beach profiles.

78 of 113

Beach profile for summer

Wide berms, constructive waves

79 of 113

Beach profile for winter

Eroded or no berms, bar, steeper profile, dune scarp, destructive waves

80 of 113

Why is LSD important?

It is needed for all formations/ beach features to b formed.

81 of 113

How is a spit formed?

Long shore drift continues pass a change in land, deposition takes place. Behind a salt marsh-low energy. Often rounded at the end- river can curve the end due to its currents taking away sediment and/or wind blows the sediment away.

82 of 113

What is a case study for spits?

Harlech (N. Wales)

83 of 113

How are bars formed?

LSD forms a spit which, grows across a bay - joining up 2 headlands (a lagoon is formed behind)

84 of 113

What is a case study for bars?

Slapton Bay (Devon)

85 of 113

How are tombolos formed?

LSD forms a spit which grows out from mainland and joins to an island

86 of 113

What is a case study for tombolos?

Chesil beach + Portland island

87 of 113

How are cuspate forelands formed?

LSD forms spits along both sides of a headland forming a triangle shape. vegation may grow if becomes established

88 of 113

What is a case study for cuspate forelands?

Dungeness (Kent)

89 of 113

Swash-aligned beaches are ------ to shore. This means the water runs along the ------- path.Leading there to be ----- net movement.

1) parallel 2) same 3)no

90 of 113

Drift-alignd beaches are at an -----to shore. this means -------- takes place

1) angle 2) LSD

91 of 113

What are the 3 conditions needed for sand dunes to form?

1. large tidal range 2. strong winds 3. lots of dry sediement

92 of 113

How do aeolian conditions move the sand?

Blowing along sand and saltation (picking up and dropping of sand particles)

93 of 113

What is fluid fresh hold velocity?

The speed that the wind needs to be for the movement of sand particles

94 of 113

What are the types of dunes?

Embryo -Fore - Yellow - Grey - Dune slack

95 of 113

What impact does strong on-shore wind (in storm) have on the different types of dunes?

Yellow+fixed(grey +dune slack)=grow Fore+embryo=destroyed

96 of 113

What is Flocculation?

When a river enters the sea- clay particles experience an electrical charge = clump together = heavy+ settle

97 of 113

Where does the sediment come from that form salt marshes?

The river and vegetation waste

98 of 113

What type of plants grow in salt marsh ?

Cordgrass, sportia, ell grass, seablite

99 of 113

Why can they survive?

Glands descrete salt, 2 root systems (strong hold)

100 of 113

What does Halophytes mean?

Can live in salt water

101 of 113

What is the value of salt marsh?

Rare ecosystems, farming,residential opportunity , natural sea deference

102 of 113

What are the main two types of threats for salt marshes?

Human and natural

103 of 113

What are the Human threats?

pollution,dredging, shipping/water sports, reclaiming

104 of 113

What are the natural threats?

sea level rise, storms,changing temperature and weather patterns.

105 of 113

What is coral?

Small marine invertabrates with on calcium carbonate exoskeletons.

106 of 113

What are the conditions needed for coral development?

Sunlight, a hard surface to form on, clear nutrint rich water, stable climate, temp 16-28^oC

107 of 113

What are the main types of coral reefs?

Fringing, Barrier,Atoll

108 of 113

What is a fringing reef?

Directly attached to the shore/boarders it with an intervening shallow channel or lagoon.

109 of 113

What is a barrier reef?

Separated from mainland/island shores by deep channel/lagoon

110 of 113

What is an atoll reef?

Circular/continuous barrier refs extends ll thee way around a lagoon without a central island.

111 of 113

What are the main threats to coral reefs?

Physical- disease, climate change,outbreak of starfish. Humans- tourist, fishing, plastic

112 of 113

What is the importance of coral reefs?

tourisum, natural sea deference, 25% of fish pop closely related to coral reefs

113 of 113

Get Revising

Coastal environment - WJEC

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Back

Card 3

Front

Back

Card 4

Front

Back

Card 5

Front

Back

Comments

Similar Geography resources:

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Back

Card 3

Front

Back

Card 4

Front

Back

Card 5

Front

Back

Comments

Related discussions on The Student Room

Similar Geography resources: