Coastal environments

Question	Answer
Abrsasion	an erosional process where rocks are thrown at the cliffs by destructive waves.
Accelerated erosion	where the speed at which destructive waves erode parts of a coastline is increased
Agents of erosion	the natural forces conducting erosion e.g. destructive waves, wind, rain etc.
Arch	an erosional feature made when destructive waves erode completely through a cave in a headland. E.g. Durdle Door, Devon, England.
Attrition	an erosional process where the debris/ rubble of rocks knocked off of the cliffs is knocked into each other by the movement of the waves. This gives smooth pebbles and, eventually, sand.
Backwash	the movement of water in a wave down a beach under the pull of gravity.
Bar	a depositional feature made of a ridge of coastal sediments (sand, pebbles etc.) which is exposed at low tide.
Bay	an erosional feature where less resistant rock is eroded faster than more resistant rock either side resulting in an inlet (eroded land eating into the coastline). This gives a sequence of headlands and bays. E.g. Lulworth Cove, Devon, England.
Beach	a depositional feature found where the land meets the sea. Unconsolidated material such as sand and shingle (pebbles) is deposited by waves.
Beach feeding	a type of soft engineering where sand or shingle is added to a beach to replace material removed by erosion by destructive waves.
Biodiversity	the number of different species of plants and animals.
Cave	an erosional feature made by the enlargement of joints by destructive waves.
Cliff re-grading	a type of soft engineering where the angle of a cliff is reduced to make it less steep and less likely to suffer from erosion by mass movement.
Coastline	where the land meets the sea.
Concordant coastline	where one type of rock of a fairly uniform resistance to erosion is found where the land meets the sea. The rock outcrops run parallel to the coasts.
Constructive waves	waves with a stronger swash than backwash. This results in the deposition of material such as sand on beaches which causes beaches to increase in size.
Coral reef	a marine ecosystem based upon colonies of coral polyps (small animals with jelly like bodies) which build rocky structures from calcium carbonate.
Corrosion	an erosional process where acids in the sea water dissolve rocks.
Cost-benefit analysis	the process that is gone through before a decision is made as to whether a project should proceed and how it should proceed.
Creeks	narrow channels along which water flows in salt marshes and other areas covered by tides in estuaries.
Delta	the land that builds out into the sea from a river’s mouth when the river deposits its sediment load upon reaching the sea.
Deposition	the dropping of material such as sand that was being transported by a moving force such as long shore drift.
Depositional features or lanforms	natural things like beaches, spits, bars and tombolos that are made when wind or water drops the sediment load (pieces of rock, sand or soil) that it is transporting (carrying). This builds new land.
Destructive waves	waves with a stronger backwash than swash. This results in erosional processes like abrasion.
Differential erosion	where erosion of a coastline occurs at different speeds due to there being a mix of less resistant and more resistant rocks. This creates headlands of more resistant rock and bays where there is less resistant rock.
Discordant coastline	where a mix of different types of rock with differing levels of resistance to erosion are found where the land meets the sea. This encourages differential erosion and the creation of headlands and bays. The rocks outcrop at right angles to the coast.
Drag	where vegetation growing in a coastal ecosystem e.g. mangrove trees in the tropics or reeds in salt marshes all around the world reduce the energy of waves.
Economically sustainable	the actions being taken will enable people or organisations to keep making money. E.g. allowing fishing zones in the SMMA of St Lucia in the Caribbean will allow local fishermen to keep earning a living.
Economically unsustainable	the actions being taken will mean the loss of jobs and a reduction in the opportunities for people and organisations to earn a living or make a profit.
Ecosystem	a community of plants and animals that interact with each other and their physical environment e.g. a salt marsh or mangroves
Emergent coastline	where sea level falls revealing new land at the coast.
Environmentally sustainable	the actions being taken will look after the natural world and not damage it too much e.g. having marine reserves in the SMMA of St Lucia in the Caribbean where no fishing can take place allows sea life to survive.
Environmentally unsustainable	the actions being taken will damage the natural world. E.g. building hotels in tropical areas increases pollution that damages coral reefs.
Erosion	the breakdown of rock and the transportation of the eroded material to another place (usually by long shore drift in the case of coasts).
Erosional features or landform	natural (physical) features (things) made by rock being worn away e.g. cliffs, caves, arches, stacks, stumps, wave cut platforms, wave cut notches, bays/coves etc.
Estuary	the area of land and water around the point at which a river’s mouth meets the sea. The water will be brackish and tidal.
Features	natural landforms like beaches and cliffs.
Fetch	the length of time and distance over which wind has blown to create waves.
Freeze-thaw weathering	a type of mechanical weathering where rock is broken down in situ. Rain water enters cracks in a rock and then freezes. The water expands as it becomes solid ice and break off pieces of rock making the crack larger. This can also be called frost shattering.
Gabion cage	a type of hard engineering. Large stones are placed in a cube made of steel wire mesh. These cubes are then stacked on top of each other.
Geology	the study of different types of rock. If a question asks something like how geology influences the formation of different coastal landforms it is asking you to explain why having different types of rock causes the creation of coastal features like headlands and bays.
Groyne	a type of hard engineering where a barrier made from wood, stone or metal is built to project out into the sea and interupts long shore drift causing the deposition of sand.
Hard engineering	the building of man-made structures protecting coastlines from erosion and flooding e.g. groynes and sea walls.
Headland	a more resistant piece of land that sticks out into the sea e.g. Flamborough Head on the Holderness coast in NE England. Headlands are erosional features.
Hold the line	where hard and/ or soft engineering is used to reduce or stop the effects and instances of flooding or erosion. The aim is to keep the coastline as it is and for there to be no more erosion.
Hydraulic action	an erosional process where waves trap air under pressure in small cracks. When the air is released it knocks small pieces of rock off
Impermeable rock	rock that doesn’t allow water to enter it e.g. clay.
Infiltration	water entering a permeable rock or soil.
Intertidal zone	the area of land within an estuary which is exposed at low tides and submerged beneath the sea at high tides.
Joints	cracks in the rock
Less resistant rock	rock that is softer and more easily eroded than other types of rock next to it. This is a relative measurement. E.g. limestone is a less resistant rock compared to granite. However, till is a less resistant rock compared to limestone.
Lagoon	an area of enclosed brackish water trapped behind a bar.
Long shore drift	the overall direction of movement of waves along a coastline. This transports (carries) a sediment load (eroded material e.g. sand).
Mangroves	a coastal ecosystem usually found in the tropics created by the growth of mangrove trees which have special adaptations to enable them to grow in salty, coastal muds in intertidal zones. E.g. the Sundarbans in Bangladesh, SE Asia.
Marine processes	actions carried out by the sea, e.g. destructive waves causing abrasion, which shape natural landforms like cliffs.
More resistant rock	rock that is harder and less easily eroded than other types of rock next to it. This is a relative measurement. E.g. granite is a more resistant rock compared to limestone. However, limestone is a more resistant rock compared to till.
Multiplier effect	when by creating one set of jobs a whole series of jobs in support industries are also created. E.g. if a new factory is created then the factory workers will spend their wages in the local shops, cinema etc.
Managed retreat	a type of soft engineering used to protect coastlines against flooding and erosion where an area of land is deliberately encouraged to flood and develop a salt marsh in order to protect more valuable land behind. E.g. Abbott’s Hall Farm, Essex. This can also be called retreat the line.
Parallel retreat	the way in which a coastline made of massive, blocky rocks e.g. limestone is eroded by the sea. The cliffs erode in such a way that the angle of the slope is kept the same each time a new section of the cliff collapses.
Percolation	water moving through a permeable rock or soil.
Permeable rock	rock that allows water to enter it e.g. till.
Players	individuals, groups or organisations that have a vested interest in something. They can also be called stakeholders.
Prevailing wind direction	the usual or most common direction that the wind blows from.
Processes of erosion	the way that erosion happens (abrasion, corrosion, hydraulic action and attrition).
Residents	people living somewhere.
Revetments	a type of hard engineering where barriers with holes deliberately made in them are erected to dissipate the energy of the waves.
Ria	a natural feature created by rising sea levels causing a river valley to flood e.g. Milford Haven, South Wales.
Riprap	a type of hard engineering where large boulders are stacked along a coastline. This can also be called rock armour.
Salt marsh	a coastal ecosystem found in the intertidal zones of estuaries.
Scouring	where the power of the waves is deflected downwards by something like a cliff or a sea wall which causes the base of the cliff or sea wall to be undermined and topple over.
Sediment load	he material (silt, sand, pebbles etc.) carried by fluvial processes (streams, rivers and the sea – waves and log shore drift).
Shoreline management plan (SMP)	the plan drawn up to determine which parts of a coastline will be protected from erosion and flooding and how they will be protected with particular consideration given to reducing risks and costs.
Socially sustainable	actions that will help to improve the quality of people’s lives e.g. increased access to education or health care or which preserve some of the traditional aspects of their culture e.g. having respect for their religious beliefs. This can also be referred to as being culturally sustainable.
Socially unsustainable	actions that damage the quality of people’s lives e.g. increasing air pollution or which damages their traditional culture e.g. McDonaldisation or cultural imperialism may cause traditional food, drink, music etc. to be replaced with western versions typically found in the USA. This can also be referred to as being culturally unsustainable.
Soft engineering	protecting coastlines from erosion and flooding using more natural processes that work with nature e.g. beach feeding.
Spit	a depositional feature created when material such as sand being transported by long shore drift is dropped by the waves building up a narrow stretch of new land out into the sea often across a bay or estuary. This may become hook shaped. E.g. Spurn Head, NE coast of the UK.
Slumping	the erosion of a coastline through rotational movement. This can occur if the cliffs are made of either unconsolidated, permeable rock e.g. till or a mix of permeable rock e.g. till and impermeable rock e.g. clay.
Stack	an erosional feature created when an arch collapses leaving a column of rock standing separately to a truncated (shortened) headland. E.g. Old Harry at Old Harry’s rocks in Devon, England.
Stump	an erosional feature created when a stack collapses. It is the remaining base of the stack. E.g. Old Harry’s son at Old Harry’s rocks in Devon, England.
Sub-aerial processes	the re-shaping of the land by erosion and weathering caused by the wind and rain e.g. heavy rainfall creating slip zones in cliffs made of permeable material e.g. till causing cliffs to collapse by slumping. Freeze-thaw weathering is also caused by sub-aerial processes.
Submergent coastline	where sea level has risen and has flooded land along the coast.
Swash	the forward movement of water in a wave up a beach.
Till	a type of soft, permeable, unconsolidated rock found on the Holderness coast in NE England.
Tombolo	a depositional feature where a spit grows to connect an offshore island to the mainland e.g. Chesil Beach on the south coast of the UK.
Tsunamis	large waves generated by tectonic activity usually earthquakes.
unconsolidated rock	material that hasn’t fully packed down to form a solid rock. E.g. till is an unconsolidated rock made of sand, gravel, clay and stones of varying sizes. It is possible for a person to break up till with their bare hands.
undercutting	erosion at the base of a feature e.g. a stack or a cliff that creates a wave cut notch. This undermines the feature and contributes to its collapse.
Wave	a ridge of water formed by the circular movement of water near the surface of the sea.
Wave-cut notch	an erosional feature created when erosional processes remove rock from the base of a cliff leaving a gap under an overhang of rock.
Wave-cut platform	an erosional feature of gently sloping bare rock exposed at the base of cliffs and extending to the sea created during the process of parallel retreat.
Weathering	the breakdown of rock in situ (the fragments of eroded rock are not transported away).
Well-jointed	places where there are many joints (cracks) in a rock.

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	Created by DavidHofmeier almost 8 years ago