Why coasts are important
Transport and fishing industry provide jobs, leisure and tourism, residential, collect resources from the sea like oil
How coastlines are under threat
Pollution, natural disasters, climate change, flooding in low line areas, oil spills
How waves form
Waves are created by wind blowing over the surface of the sea. As the wind blows over the sea friction is created - producing a swell in the water. The energy of the wind causes water particles to rotate inside the swell, moving the wave forward
Crest
Top of the wave
Backwash
The movement of water and load back down the beach
Velocity
The speed that a wave is traveling. It is influenced by the wind, fetch and depth of water.
Wavelength
The distance between two crests or two troughs.
Trough
The low area in between two waves.
Wave height
The distance between the crest and the trough.
Swash
The movement of water and load up the beach.
Wave Frequency
The number of waves per minute.
Constructive waves
Build beaches, each wave is low, and are less frequent
Destructive waves
Destroy beaches, waves are very high and very frequent
Coastal erosion
The wearing away and breaking up of rock along the coast
Erosion processes
Attrition, Corrosion (solution), Abrasion, Hydraulic action
Attrition
Waves smash rocks and pebbles on the shore into each other, and they break apart and become smaller and rounded
Corrosion (solution)
Acids contained in sea water starts to dissolve alkaline rocks like Chalk and Limestone
Abrasion
Bits of rock and sand in carried by the waves wear down cliff surfaces
Hydraulic action
Air may get trapped in cracks in the rock, and when a wave breaks the air is compressed and weakens and erodes the cliff
Headland
A piece of land jutting out into the sea
Bay
A broad coastal inlet often with a beach
Concordant headline
A continuous layer of either soft or hard rock witch erode away to form coves
Discordant coastline
Layers of hard and soft rocks that erode away to form headlands and bays
How coves are created
Waves cut through the weakness of the soft rock and over time the gap widens where the softer clays have been easily eroded. The rock does not continue to erode much after this as it has hit the harder rock, meaning that the erosion will be a lot slower.
Wave-cut platform
A wide, gentle, sloping, rocky surface at the foot of a cliff
Wave-cut notch
A small indentation cut into a cliff roughly at the level of high tide caused by erosion
How wave cut platforms are formed
The base of the cliff is attacked by destructive waves which erode the cliff by hydraulic action and corrasion forming a wave-cut notch, this gets larger until the cliff collapses, and as the process repeats the cliff retreats
Caves
Formed when a large crack opens in the rock because of hydraulic action. As the waves wear away at the crack it opens up to form a cave.
Arch
The cave gets bigger and breaks through the headland
Stack
The arch is eroded at the base until the roof gets too heavy and collapses into the sea, leaving a stack
Stump
The stack is undercut at the base until it collapses to form a stump
Longshore drift
The movement of sediment along the coastline
Spit
An accumulation of sand with one end attached to land and the other end reaching out across and estuary or into the sea
How a spit forms
Large amounts of sediment are transported by longshore drift, and prevailing winds help to transport material along the coast. where the coastline suddenly changes direction it leaves a sheltered, marsh area of water.
Bar
A barrier (ridge) of sand stretching across a sheltered bay or river mouth
How a bar forms
Longshore drift moves sand out across the bay, and shallow water in the bay allows deposited sand to build up. The deposited sand eventually joins up with the other side of the bay and blocks off the water in the bay.
Tombolo
A thin strip of land created between a coastal island and the mainland
How a tombolo forms
A spit continues to grow through longshore drift joining land to an offshore island
Sand dune
An accumulation of wind-driven sand
Processes by which sand is transported
Saltation, traction, suspension
Saltation
Small pieces of shinge or large sand grains are bounced along the sea bed
Traction
Pebbles and larger material are rolled along the sea bed
Suspension
Small particles such as silts and clays are suspended in the flow of the water
Conditions needed for sand dunes to form
Winds blowing onshore (towards land), dry sand, wide beach with no buildings behind it, flat relief
Shape of a typical sand dune
Crescent shapes - generally wider than long
Vegetation and sand dunes
Marram grass - the leaves slow down the wind speed, causing sand to be deposited and trapped
Humus
The organic content of the soil formed from decomposing plants and animals
Changes in humus content in the soil
As the plants take root there is more humus in the soil
Changes in acidity
As the plants take root there is a low pH
How sand dunes are formed
When dry sand is blown up a beach it gets trapped in an object and accumulates around the object forming a sand dune
Transect of a sand dune
Embryo dunes, Foredunes, Yellow dunes, Grey dunes, Dune slack
Where salt marshes are found
They form in coastal areas that already have mud flats, that are well sheltered, such as creek inlets and estuaries where fine sediments can be deposited. They also form behind spits
Types of plants that grow in salt marshes
Saltgrass, Saltwort, Glasswort, Beach tea
Relief of a salt marsh compared to relief of a sand dune
Salt marshes are flat ecosystems, while sand dunes are hills of sand typically found above the the usual maximum reach of the waves
Value of salt marshes to people
Collect carbon. Provide ideal conditions for the farming of some species of shellfish. In some areas they are left as natural coastal defences as they can be safely flooded by hightide, and therefore protect housing and agricultural areas inland.
What does a coral reef start with
Coral larvae
How quickly does coral grow
15cm/year
What produces corals’ food
Algae
What does coral do at night
Take in water, expand their tentacles and feeds on algae
Conditions needed for coral reefs
Warm, saline waters, shallow seas - up to 40 metres to allow for photosynthesis, clean, clear water, few sediments in the water, plentiful supply of oxygen in the water / unpolluted, plentiful supply of plankton, a steady salt content, close to the equator
Frining reef
A submerged platform of living coral that extends from the shore to the sea.
Barrier reef
A fringing reef that is separate from the mainland or the island by a deep lagoon
Atoll
A circular barrier reef forming an island that encircles a central lagoon
Values of mangrove forests
Protect against hurricanes, tsunamis and strong waves, they reduce erosion rates, 3/4 of all tropical fish are born here, good source of wood, food supply, tourist location
Mangrove forest
An area of trees or shrubs that grow in tropical coastal swamps that are flooded at high tide.
Conditions required for the growth of mangroves
Warm, brackish, shallow waters, areas of mud exposed at low tide, wet climate with annual rainfall exceeding 1250mm a year
Where mangroves are found
In the tropics, 30°N of the equator, 30°S of the equator
Adaptations of mangroves
Salt water, no oxygen in the soil, waves and currents
Adaptations which help survive in salt water
They can excrete salt through the leaves and bark, they also stick roots up into the air which suck oxygen out of the air and water and get rid of excess salt, and then float away by the outgoing tide
Threats to mangroves
Shrimp farming, tourism
Coastal management
Mangroves, Groynes, Rip rap/armour blocks, Gabions, Revetments, Recurved sea wall, Breakwater, Beach nourishment
Groyne
Trap sediment that is carried along the coast by longshore drift, which builds up a bigger, wider beach protecting the land behind it
Rip rap/armour blocks
The waves break on the rip rap and not on the coastline - they act as a barrier for erosion
Gabions
Placed at the base of cliffs, metal cages filled with rocks and stacked together to make a wall to protect the coast
Revetments
Wooden posts with slats of wood or concrete laid on top of the beach to stop the sand being eroded
Recurved sea wall
Protects the inland area against wave action and coastal erosion
Breakwater
Are placed out in the ocean to break the wave energy earlier and converts the wave to a low energy, constructive wave
Beach nourishment
Replacing the sand and shingle that has been lost by the action of the sea