Unit 9 - Coasts and Coastal Processes
1. What is coastline?
The boundary between land and sea.
2. How many people live on the coast in the UK?
Over 3 million.
3. What is the maximum distance for any point in the UK from the coast?
70 miles or 113 kilometres.
4. Mention some positives the sea brings for the people:
Tourism, transport, trade, and recreation.
5. Mention some negatives on living near the coastline:
Flooding, erosion, and property damage.
6. Which natural phenomenon destroy the coastline?
Erosion and weathering.
7. What do you call people who work on improving the coastline?
Coastal engineers.
8. Why is it difficult for the government to protect our coastlines?
High cost and long stretches to manage.
9. What is geomorphology?
The study of landforms and the processes that shape them.
10. What is weathering?
The breakdown of rocks on the spot.
11. What is freeze-thaw weathering?
Water enters cracks, freezes, expands, and breaks the rock.
12. What is the name of the process where water causes erosion after freezing and melting?
Freeze-thaw weathering.
13. What is chemical weathering?
Breakdown of rocks through chemical reactions.
14. What is the name of the process where acidic rainwater causes erosion?
Solution.
15. What is biological weathering?
Breakdown of rocks by plants and animals.
16. What is the name of the process where plants and animals break down rocks?
Biological weathering.
17. Besides the natural processes that cause erosion, what else determines how fast coasts erode?
Rock type.
18. What type of rock is Flamborough Head made from?
Chalk.
19. What is the material that creates much of Holderness Coast?
Glacial till.
20. What is glacial till?
Soft, easily eroded material deposited by glaciers.
21. How is glacial till different to chalk?
Glacial till is softer and erodes faster than chalk.
22. What is erosion?
The wearing away of land by water, wind, or ice.
23. What is sub-aerial weathering?
Weathering from rain, frost, and biological activity.
24. What is marine weathering?
Weathering by the sea.
25. How many types of erosions are there?
Four.
26. What is hydraulic action?
The force of water which compresses air in cracks.
27. What is the erosion caused by the force of waves?
Hydraulic action.
28. How is hydraulic action noticeable on the rocks?
Cracks widen and break apart.
29. What is abrasion?
Rocks hurled at the cliff by waves.
30. What is the erosion caused by waves throwing rocks at the sea?
Abrasion.
31. How is abrasion noticeable on rocks?
Smooth, worn surfaces.
32. What is corrosion?
Chemical breakdown of rocks by sea water.
33. What is the erosion caused by chemicals dissolving rocks?
Corrosion.
34. What is attrition?
Rocks knocking together and wearing down.
35. What is the erosion caused by angular rocks knocking into each other?
Attrition.
36. How is attrition noticeable?
Rocks become smaller and rounder.
37. What are headlands?
Areas of hard rock jutting into the sea.
38. What do we call land made from hard rocks that juts out without being eroded?
Headland.
39. What is a bay?
An area of softer rock that is eroded inwards.
40. What do we call the land carved out from soft rocks after differential erosion?
Bay.
41. What is a wave-cut platform?
A flat area at the base of a cliff created by erosion.
42. What do we call an area created under a cliff after undercutting from erosion?
Wave-cut notch/platform.
43. What is an arch?
A hole through a headland caused by erosion.
44. What do we call an opening through a headland created by erosion?
Arch.
45. What is a stack?
A column of rock left after an arch collapses.
46. What do we call the column of headland remaining after erosion?
Stack.
47. What is a stump?
A short piece of rock left after a stack collapses.
48. What do we call a small piece of headland remaining after further erosion?
Stump.
49. What is a fault?
A crack in rock caused by stress.
50. What do we call cracks in a cliff?
Faults.
51. What happens to a fault after hydraulic action?
It gets wider and becomes a cave.
52. Which form of erosion causes cracks to form in cliffs?
Hydraulic action.
53. What does a notch become after hydraulic action?
A cave or wave-cut platform.
54. Which form of erosion causes the cave to become smoother?
Abrasion.
55. What does a cave become after it is eroded further?
An arch.
56. What happens to an arch after it is eroded further?
It collapses.
57. What forms after an arch collapses?
A stack.
58. What does a stack become after further erosion?
A stump.
59. What is transportation?
The movement of material by the sea.
60. What do we call the movement of eroded material away from beaches?
Transportation.
61. How are waves caused?
By the wind blowing over the sea surface.
62. How are tides controlled?
By the gravitational pull of the Moon.
63. How does wind cause waves?
Friction between the wind and the sea surface.
64. In which motion does water move inside waves?
Circular motion.
65. What happens to waves when they hit the shore?
They break.
66. What are the two types of waves?
Constructive and destructive.
67. What are constructive waves?
Waves that build up the beach.
68. What are destructive waves?
Waves that erode the beach.
69. Which form of waves cause the beach to build up?
Constructive waves.
70. Which form of waves cause the beach to break down?
Destructive waves.
71. How are the heights of the waves of constructive waves?
Low.
72. How are the heights of the waves of destructive waves?
High.
73. How is the swash movement of constructive waves?
Strong.
74. How is the swash movement of destructive waves?
Weak.
75. How is the backwash movement of destructive waves?
Strong.
76. How is the backwash movement of constructive waves?
Weak.
77. What is longshore drift?
The movement of material along the coast.
78. What is the process in which beach material is transported along the beach by waves?
Longshore drift.
79. What is the dominant wave?
North-easterly at Holderness.
80. What is deposition?
The dropping of material carried by the sea.
81. What are spits?
Long, narrow landforms extending from the coast.
82. What do we call long thin strips of land that stick out of the headland?
Spits.
83. What are tombolos?
A spit joining land to an island.
84. What do we call land that a spit joins onto an island?
Tombolo.
85. What is a bar?
A spit joining two headlands.
86. What do we call deposition that joins the two headlands around a bay?
Bar.
87. What is a lagoon?
A lake formed behind a bar.
88. What do we call the lake created by a bar across a bay?
Lagoon.
89. Why does a spit curve?
Due to changes in wind and wave direction.
90. What happens to a spit if there is a change in wind or wave direction?
It curves or grows.
91. Which process causes spits to form?
Longshore drift.
92. What is the concern about lands formed by longshore drift?
They are vulnerable to erosion.
93. Mention three uses of the coastline:
Tourism, fishing and wildlife habitat.
94. What do coastal engineers have to consider when deciding which coast to protect?
Social, economic, and environmental value.
95. What is the fastest eroding coastline in Europe?
Holderness coast.
96. How much sediment is sent south by longshore drift at Holderness coast?
3 million cubic metres per year.
97. Where does the sediment transported south from Holderness coast end up?
Spurn Point.
98. Which natural resource is found near Holderness coast?
Gas.
99. How many villages have been lost at Holderness coast due to erosion?
Up to 32.
100. How many houses are expected to disappear in the next 100 years near Holderness coast?
Over 200 homes (7,000 nationally).
101. How much land a year is lost at Mappleton?
2 metres.
102. What does the “hold-the-line” policy mean?
Use of defences to prevent erosion.
103. What does the “do nothing” policy mean?
Let natural processes continue without interference.
104. What are the two forms of coastal management engineering?
Hard and soft engineering.
105. What is hard engineering?
Expensive, man-made defences (e.g., sea walls).
106. What is soft engineering?
Working with nature (e.g., beach recharge).
107. What do we call the engineering used where dramatic changes are made to the environment?
Hard engineering.
108. What do we call the engineering used where natural materials are moved?
Soft engineering.
109. What are groynes?
Barriers that trap sand to build beaches.
110. What is the downside of using groynes?
Starve beaches further down the coast.
111. What is the downside of using sea walls?
Expensive and can reflect energy elsewhere.
112. What is rock armour?
Large rocks placed at the base of cliffs.
113. How does rock armour work?
Absorbs wave energy.
114. What are gabions?
Rock-filled wire cages.
115. What is the downside of using gabions?
Can rust or be visually unattractive.
116. What is beach recharge?
Adding sand or shingle to beaches.
117. What is the positive of using beach recharge?
Looks natural and protects the shore.
118. What is the negative of using beach recharge?
Needs regular maintenance.
119. What is managed retreat?
Allowing areas to flood in a controlled way.
120. What is the downside of using managed retreat?
It can cause loss of land and compensation issues.
121. What sort of rock is Mappleton built on?
Glacial till.
122. Which hard engineering was used at Mappleton?
Rock groynes, rock armour, cliff stabilisation.
123. Why is having a wider beach better for the shore?
Absorbs wave energy before hitting the cliff.
124. What is happening to the beach south of Mappleton?
Eroding rapidly.
125. Why has the beach south of Mappleton reduced in size?
Groynes at Mappleton stop sediment moving south.
126. Where did the glacial till at Mappleton come from?
Deposited by glaciers 18,000 years ago.
127. What happens to the cliff’s shape if it becomes saturated and soggy?
It weakens and slumps.
128. What eventually happens to a saturated cliff?
Landslides and collapse.