Coastal Environments and Waves

Flashcards covering coastal environments, wave types, and associated landforms based on lecture notes.

How do constructive waves affect a beach profile?

Constructive waves are usually associated with relatively gentle beach profiles, enabling waves to surge a long way up the beach and deposit material.

Describe the negative feedback loop related to beaches and waves.

Constructive waves create a gentle beach profile, leading to material deposition and a steeper profile. This encourages destructive waves to remove material, making the profile less steep again, thus maintaining a state of equilibrium.

What characterizes high-energy coastal environments?

High-energy environments are generally found where waves are powerful (e.g., Atlantic-facing coasts) and the rate of erosion exceeds the rate of deposition.

Name some erosional landforms typically found in high-energy coastal environments.

Erosional landforms include headlands, cliffs, and wave-cut platforms.

What characterizes low-energy coastal environments?

Low-energy environments are indicative of less powerful waves or sheltered coasts (e.g., estuaries, bays) where the rate of deposition exceeds the rate of erosion.

Name some depositional landforms typically found in low-energy coastal environments.

Depositional landforms include beaches, spits, and coastal plains.