Coastal Processes and Landforms

What this unit covers

The listed resources follow the coast from process to landform to management. The mind map Geography - AQA - GCSE - Physical - Coasts breaks processes into erosion types such as hydraulic action, corrasion and attrition, then moves on to landforms and case studies. Waves and Tides and Weathering and Mass movement cover the forces behind it all.

Landforms and case studies

For landforms, look at Coastal Landforms, the flowchart on the sea arch and stack, and the flashcards on caves, arches, stacks and stumps. Depositional features are covered in the notes on beaches and the notes titled Spits.

Case studies are well represented. There are several on the Holderness Coast, plus Barton-on-sea, Swanage, Medmerry and Christchurch bay, the Keyhaven saltmarsh notes and the Ynyslas sand dunes notes. Some resources also cover Mauritius and Kiribati.

Where to start

1. Open The Coastal Zone or coastal landscapes for the big picture.
2. Read the notes on longshore drift and the notes on beaches.
3. Move to landforms made by erosion, then deposition.
4. Finish with management and case studies.

Using quizzes and maps together

Read a mind map first, then test yourself. The Coastal management quiz asks about hard and soft engineering, groynes and beach nourishment. The Coastal Geography Quiz uses fill-in-the-blank questions on spits and wave types. When an answer is wrong, go back to the matching map branch and note the gap on a flashcard.

Teachers can set a map as pre-reading and a quiz as a starter. Exam boards mentioned across the resources include AQA, Edexcel and the general GCSE and A-level courses, so check titles against your own specification.

Place in the subject

This unit sits in the strand Physical Landscapes and Earth Processes, within Geography. Choose a resource that matches your course and start with a quiz to see what to revise.