Download The Coastal Zone Checklist and Key Words

GCSE Geography
Unit 4 The Coastal Zone
Topic
Coastal processes.
Weathering processes – mechanical, chemical.
Mass movement – sliding and slumping.
Constructive and destructive waves.
Processes of erosion – hydraulic power, abrasion, attrition and
solution (Including Swanage Bay Case Study).
Processes of transportation – longshore drift, traction, saltation,
suspension and solution (Including Hurst Castle Case Study).
Deposition and the reasons for it.
Landforms resulting from coastal processes.
Landforms resulting from erosion – characteristics and formation of
headlands/bays, cliffs, wave cut platforms, caves, arches and stacks.
Landforms resulting from deposition – characteristics and formation
of beaches, spits and bars.
Rising sea levels.
Reasons for rising sea level.
Illustrate economic, social, environmental and political impact of
coastal flooding using one UK area (East Anglia Case Study).
Cliff collapse.
An area of recent or threatened cliff collapse:
rates of coastal erosion; reasons why some areas are susceptible to
undercutting by the sea and collapse; how people may worsen the
situation; the impact on people’s lives and the environment (BartonOn-Sea Case Study).
Coastal Management - ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ engineering.
Management strategies: Hard engineering – sea walls, groynes, rock
armour (Including Minehead Case Study).
Management strategies: Soft engineering – beach nourishment, dune
regeneration, marsh creation and managed retreat (Including
Wallasea Island Case Study).
Conservation in coastal areas.
A coastal habitat – its environmental characteristics; the resulting
habitat and species that inhabit it and reasons why (Key Haven,
Hampshire Case Study).
Strategies that ensure conservation whilst allowing sustainable use.
Revision
Completed
Y
Half
N
Key Terms:
Weathering – The breakup or decay of rocks in their original place at or close to the
Earth’s surface.
Mechanical Weathering – Weathering that does not involve chemical change.
Scree – Deposits of angular rock fragments found at the foot of rock outcrops.
Chemical Weathering – Weathering that involves a chemical change taking place.
Biological Weathering – Weathering caused by living organisms such as tree roots or
burrowing animals.
Freeze-Thaw Weathering – Weathering involving repeated cycles of freezing and
thawing.
Pores – Holes in Rock.
Exfoliation - Flaking of the outer surface of rocks mainly caused by repeated cycles
of hot and cold.
Carbonation – Weathering of limestone and chalk by acidic rainwater.
Rockfall – The collapse of a cliff face or the fall of individual rocks from a cliff.
Hydraulic Power – The sheer power of the waves and water hitting the coast.
Corrasion – The effect of rocks being hurled at the cliff by powerful waves.
Solution – An erosional process - the dissolving of rocks such as limestone and chalk
in rain water.
Attrition – The knocking together of pebbles and rocks, making them smaller and
rounder.
Traction – When heavy particles are rolled along the seabed.
Solution – Also a transportation process - the transportation of dissolved chemicals in
the water.
Saltation – A hopping movement of pebbles along the seabed.
Suspension – Lighter particles carried (suspended) within the water.
Longshore Drift – The transport of sediment along a stretch of coastline caused by
waves approaching the beach at an angle (carried in a zig-zag path).
Headland – A natural elevation of land jutting out into the sea.
Bay – A broad coastal inlet often with a beach.
Wave Cut Platform – A wide, gently sloping rocky surface at the foot of a cliff.
Wave Cut Notch – A small indentation (or notch) cut into a cliff roughly at the level
of high tide caused by concentrated marine erosion at this level.
Cave – A hollowed out feature at the base of an eroding cliff.
Arch – A headland that has been partly broken through by the sea to form a thin
rooted arch..
Stack – An isolated pinnacle of rock sticking out of the sea.
Shoreline Management Plan – An integrated coastal management plan for a stretch
of coastline in England and Wales.
Hard Engineering – Building artificial structures such as sea walls aimed at
controlling natural processes.
Soft Engineering – A sustainable approach to managing the coast without using
artificial structures.
Managed Retreat – Allowing controlled flooding of low-lying coastal areas or cliff
collapse in areas where the value of land is low.
Pioneer Plant – The first plant species to colonise an area that is well adapted to
living in a harsh environment.
Vegetation Succession – A sequence of vegetation species colonising an
environment.