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coastal environment
Keywords associated with coastal environment
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Coast | Region where the land meets the sea/ocean. |
| Dynamic coastal environment | A coast that is subjected to rapid and extreme changes e.g. sandy beaches. |
| Waves | They are caused by the transfer of energy from the wind blowing over the surface of the sea. |
| Tide | Is the daily rise and fall of the sea level. It is caused by the attraction of the moon and the sun. |
| Currents | The flow of a liquid (e.g. water) or a gas (e.g. water vapours). |
| Geology | The study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change. |
| Ecosystem | A collection of organisms and the natural surroundings they interact with. |
| Fetch | The maximum distance of water over which winds can blow and form waves. |
| Wave refraction | Is the change in wave direction. The depth of water present at a coast is different depending on the features present. As wave approaches a coast its progress is modified due to friction from the seabed, halting the motion of waves. |
| Swash | Water movement up a beach. |
| Backwash | Water movement down a beach. |
| Abrasion /Corrasion | Particles carried by the waves crash against the cliffs, eroding the cliffs. |
| Hydraulic action | When a wave breaks against a cliff, it causes air which is trapped within cracks, to be compressed suddenly. When the water retreats the air is allowed to expand, often explosively. This process is known as hydraulic action. |
| Attrition | Rock particles carried by the waves crash against each other and are broken up into smaller particles. |
| Solution | A chemical weathering process in which a material is dissolved. |
| Longshore drift | It is the lateral movement of sand and shingle along beaches. |
| Destructive waves | Are high energy waves,created from big, strong waves. Have short wave length and are high and steep. They can travel over a long fetch due to powerful wind blowing over their water surface for a long time. Their backwash is stronger than their swash. |
| Headland | It is an area of land that juts out into the sea. It is made up of harder rocks that are more resistant to the erosive powers of the sea. |
| Cliff | A large area of rock or a mountain with a very steep side, often at the edge of the sea or a river. |
| Cave | A large natural hole in the side of a cliff or hill, or under the ground. |
| Arch | Due to prolong erosion, caves on either side of a headland are developed which later joined together to form a natural arch. |
| Stacks | They are tall columns of rocks. They are formed when a natural arch collapsed leaving upright sections of isolated rocks behind. |
| Shore platform | A rock shelf fringing the coastline between the low and high water marks. |
| Bay | A part of the sea that is partly enclosed by a curve in the land. |
| Spit | Long ridges of sand and shingle attached to land at one end. |
| Tombolo | A spit linking an island to the mainland. |
| Beach | A gently sloping deposit of sand, pebbles or mud, deposited along the coast. |
Created by:
edugan_hoh
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