AQA A-Level Geography: Complete Coasts Revision

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering coastal systems, wave dynamics, weathering, erosion, landforms, and management strategies based on AQA A-Level Geography.

Coastal system

An open system where land, sea and atmosphere interact.

Inputs

Energy and materials entering the coastal system, such as wind energy, wave energy and sediment from rivers.

Stores

Places where sediment is temporarily held, including beaches, dunes and mudflats.

Transfers

Processes moving sediment through the coastal system.

Longshore drift

The movement of sediment along the coast by angled swash and straight backwash.

Outputs

Energy or sediment leaving the coastal system.

Dynamic equilibrium

A balance between inputs and outputs in a coastal system.

Equilibrium disruption

The disturbance of a coastal system's balance due to storms, sea-level rise and human activity.

Fetch

The distance wind travels across open water.

Constructive waves

Low-energy waves with a strong swash that deposit sediment and create wide, gently sloping beaches.

Destructive waves

High-energy waves with a strong backwash that erode coastlines and create steep beaches.

Weathering

The breakdown of rock in situ.

Freeze-thaw weathering

A process where water freezes in cracks and expands by about $9\%$, causing rock breakdown.

Salt crystallisation

A weathering process where growing salt crystals force rock apart.

Biological weathering

The breakdown of rock by plants and animals.

Root action

A form of biological weathering where roots widen cracks in rock.

Carbonation

The process by which carbonic acid dissolves minerals like limestone and chalk.

Mass movement

The downslope movement of material due to gravity.

Rockfall

A type of mass movement where rock falls vertically from a cliff.

Landslide

A type of mass movement where material slides along a slip plane.

Rotational slumping

A type of mass movement, such as on the Holderness Coast, where saturated material rotates downslope.

Hydraulic action

Erosion caused by compressed air breaking rock apart.

Abrasion

An erosional process where sediment scrapes away rock.

Attrition

A process where sediment becomes smaller and rounder as particles collide.

Solution (Erosion)

The process where certain rock types dissolve in acidic water.

Traction

Transportation where large rocks are rolled along the seabed.

Saltation

Transportation where small pebbles bounce along the seabed.

Suspension

Transportation where fine sediment is carried within the water.

Solution (Transportation)

Transportation where dissolved minerals are carried in water.

Deposition

The accumulation of sediment that occurs when wave energy decreases, typically in sheltered bays and estuaries.

Headland

A resistant rock formation protruding into the sea.

Bay

An inlet formed where softer rock erodes between headlands.

Discordant coastline

A coastline consisting of alternating bands of hard and soft rock.

Wave refraction

The process where waves bend as they enter shallow water, concentrating energy on headlands and encouraging deposition in bays.

Cave-arch-stack sequence

The stages of erosion starting from a crack, becoming a cave, then an arch, followed by a stack and finally a stump.

Wave-cut notch

An undercut section at the base of a cliff.

Wave-cut platform

A rocky platform left behind by repeated cliff retreat.

Beach

An accumulation of sand or shingle found at the coast; sandy beaches are gently sloping while shingle beaches are steep.

Spit

A ridge of sediment attached to land at one end, formed by longshore drift and deposition.

Recurved end

A hooked end of a spit caused by changing wind direction.

Spurn Head

A notable example of a spit.

Bar

A spit extending across a bay, creating a lagoon behind it.

Tombolo

A ridge of sediment connecting an island to the mainland.

Sand dunes

Wind-blown sand deposits found above the high tide line, starting as embryo dunes.

Marram grass

A type of vegetation that traps and stabilises sand in dunes.

Succession

The gradual change in vegetation over time.

Mudflat

An area of deposited silt and clay found in sheltered estuaries.

Salt marsh

A vegetated coastal wetland that develops on mudflats.

Pioneer species

The first plants to colonise a mudflat area.

Eustatic sea-level change

Global sea-level change caused by melting ice and thermal expansion.

Isostatic change

Local sea-level change caused by the land rising or sinking.

Sea wall

A hard engineering concrete barrier against waves that is highly effective but very expensive.

Groyne

A hard engineering barrier that traps sediment to build wider beaches but may increase erosion further down the coast.

Rock armour

Large boulders used to absorb wave energy.

Beach nourishment

A soft engineering technique where sand is added to a beach.

Dune regeneration

A soft engineering technique involving planting vegetation to stabilise dunes.

Managed retreat

A coastal management strategy allowing controlled flooding.

Shoreline Management Plan (SMP)

A long-term strategy for coastal management.

Hold the Line

An SMP strategy to maintain the current coastline.

Managed Realignment

An SMP strategy to move coastal defences inland.

No Active Intervention

An SMP strategy to allow natural processes to continue without human interference.