Coastal geology

What is glacial till?

Unsorted sediment that is deposited directly be a glacier

Is glacial till considered hard or soft rock?

Soft rock

What can glacial till contain?

Clay, gravel, sand and boulders

What is limestone?

Sedimentary rock that are formed from organic or inorganic sources

What is limestone mainly composed of?

Calcium carbonate

What organic and inorganic sources help form limestone?

Shells, coral and chemical precipitation

Is limestone considered hard or soft rock?

Soft rock - despite being durable to be used as building material

What are geographical folds?

Wavelike bends or warps in rock layers caused by compressional stress in the earths crust

What are the main types of geographical folds?

Anticlines and synclines

What do geographical folds provide an insight to?

Tectonic activity

What do geographical folds influence?

Coastal features such as concordant and discordant coastlines and headlands and bays

What are geographical faults?

A fracture in the earths crust where one side has moved relative to the other

What are geographical faults caused by?

Plate tectonic forces

What do geographical faults influence?

Landforms such as rift valleys and fault-block mountains

What is a concordant coastline?

A shoreline where rock layers run parallel to the coast, meaning bands of hard and soft rock alternate in a line perpendicular to the sea

What does a perpendicular coastline create?

A protective outer layer of hard rock but a softer rock can rapidly erode behind this

What can a concordant coastline lead to?

Relatively smooth and uniform shorelines with fewer headlands and bays and landforms of coves

What is a discordant coastlines?

Rock strata that runs perpendicular to the coast, leading to alternating bands of hard and soft rock

What is likely to happen to discordant coastlines?

Erosion

What do discordant coastlines emphasise?

Headlands and bays

Why do discordant coastlines emphasise this?

As headlands have more resistant hard rock and its less likely to erode and bays have softer rock which is easily eroded