Coasts

Question	Answer
Swash	Water and materials moving up the beach.
Backwash	Water and materials moving down the beach. (Could be remembered "backwash- moving back to the sea")
Fetch	The distance a wave travels
Constructive waves	Break on the shore and deposit materials building up beaches. These waves are created in calm weather and are less powerful than Destructive waves
Destructive waves	Created in stormy conditions these waves occur when the wave energy is high and has travelled a long fetch (distance) and tend to corrode the coast.
Spit	Is an accumulation of sand with one end attached to the land and the other end reaching out across an estuary or into the sea.
Sea wall	Absorbs wave energy so the cliff foot is protected from erosion.
Cliff drainage	Reduces the risk of weathering and mass movement to protect the cliff face from falling.
Beach nourishment	Extra cement is dumped on the beach to increase its size, a wider beach will absorb more wave energy and protect cliffs.
Rip rap	Boulders are dumped at the foot of a cliff allowing water though while dissipating wave energy.
Gabions	Wire boxes filled with stones are placed at the cliff foot to dissipate wave energy.
Wooden groynes	Wooden fences are built out into the sea, they stop longshore drift and build up the beach (a wide beach absorbs more wave energy).
Manage retreat	The sea wall is destroyed and they knock it down and let the area be flooded.

Resource summary

	Created by Chloe Haslam over 7 years ago