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Coastal Systems

Coast Terms (Especially 4 Geography As)

Term	Definition	Details	Type
Onshore	A movement from sea to land	Usually used to describe winds	Coastal Environment
Backshore	The beach area, landward of the foreshore above the normal reach of the tides, that provides the primary protection from the hinterland		Coastal Environment
Intertidal and Nearshore	Zone of land between highest and lowest tides	In low-lying areas i.e mudflats, this can be very extensive and important ecologically	Coastal Environment
Offshore Zone	A zone that is seaward of the breakpoint	This may include features such as offshore bars	Coastal Environment
Coast	The area where landmasses meet the sea	Often used to encompass the zones on either side of the shoreline	Coastal Environment
Coastline/Shoreline	A line used in the analysis of shoreline evolution	It represents the cliff top edge on cliffed coasts, edge of hard defences where these exist, and the backshore/ hinter	Coastal Environment
Coastal Zonation	The identification of areas of coast often for planning purposes	The term may refer to zones such as offshore, onshore or to sections of the coast sharing common marine processes.	Coastal Environment
Littoral Zone	The environmental zone that exists between the highest and lowest levels of the spring tides.		Coastal Environment
Beach System	The inputs, outputs, transfers, processes and stores that interact with each other on the beach	(blank)	System
Coastal System	The inputs, outputs, transfers, processes and stores that interact with each other along the coast	(blank)	System
Littoral Cells	Offshore littoral zones within which the circulation of sediment through longshore drift and other processes, is relatively self contained.	11 such zones have been identified for England and Wales	System
Sediment Sinks	These occur when sediment movements meet and material is lost from marine circulation	They are often associated with the creation of depositional features	System
Dynamic Equilibrium	The balance between inputs and outputs in a system	It is linked to the concept of "steady state"	System
Storm Surge	A rapid rise in sea level brought about by a combination of factors.	These factors include; - High strong tides - strong onshore winds - funneling of water into narrow coastal zones - very low atmospheric pressure - esturine rivers at flood level due to prolonged rainfall.	System
Storm Event	An exceptionally powerful storm with associated geomorphological consequences i.e the creation of a new storm beach	(blank)	System
Structure	Geological features	i.e folding and faulting	Physical Factor AC
Lithology	Rock Type	(blank)	Physical Factor AC
Differential Erosion	The erosion of different geological elements at different rates due to variations.	i.e lithology or faulting which may lead to features such as headlands and bays.	Physical Factor AC
Fault Zone	Area of rocks with a high degree of faulting, making it prone to erosion	(blank)	Physical Factor AC
Jointing	Fractures in rocks that do not involve faulting	(blank)	Physical Factor AC
Bedding Plane	Surface within a rock that is parallel to the surface of deposition	Often associated with cracks that may lead to erosion	Physical Factor AC
Concordant Features	Features that occur where geological structures run parallel with the coast	(blank)	Physical Factor AC
Discordant Features	Features which occur when structures run at right angles to the coast	(blank)	Physical Factor AC
Wave Frequency	The number of waves per minute	(blank)	Physical Factor AC
Fetch	The distance that a wave travels before breaking	(blank)	Physical Factors AC
Dominant Wind	The wind direction that has the principal impact on marine processes in an area	(blank)	Physical Factor AC
Prevailing Wind	The wand that blows most frequently in an area	It is often the dominant wind	Physical Factor AC
Corrasion	Erosion caused by pebbles and rock fragments hitting the beach or cliff rocks.	(blank)	C Process
Abrasion	Another term for corrasion	(blank)	C Process
Corrosion	Erosion brought about by chemical action on rocks	(blank)	C Process
Hydraulic Action	Erosion brought about by the pressure of water on cliffs and beaches.	(blank)	C Process
Wave Refraction	The "bending" of a wave due to friction as its base touches the seabed	(blank)	C Process
Longshore Drift	The movement of material along a beach caused by waves (swash) striking the beach at an angle, and the backwash returning at right angles	(blank)	C Process
Rip Currents	Fast flowing backwash that can scour beach channels	(blank)	C Process
Tides	The periodic rises and falls of sea level due to the gravitational action of the sun and moon	(blank)	C Process
Micro-Tidal Environment	The zone of littoral affected by tidal action	It has particular relevance to ecological systems	C Process
Swash	Water moving up a beach after a wave has broken	(blank)	C Process
Backwash	The movement of water back down a beach due to gravity	(blank)	C Process
Sub-aerial Erosion	Non-marine erosional processes that occur on cliff and beach surfaces	(blank)	C Process
Rotational Slipping	Landslipping that occurs on a curved plane	It is often caused by weak underlying rocks giving way during saturation	C Process
Slumping	Movement of material down a slope, under gravity, but lubricated by water	(blank)	C Process
Flow	The movement of liquid or semi-liquid material downslope e.g on a cliff face	(blank)	C Process
Landslide	Movement of dry material downslope (due to gravity) with no lubrication	(blank)	C Process
Long Term Changes	Long Term - permanent changes that occur quickly or slowly	(blank)	C Process
Short Term Changes	Changes that happen relatively quickly and usually regarded as temporary	(blank)	C Process
Active Cliffs	Cliffs undergoing active erosion	(blank)	C Landforms
Degraded Cliffs	Non-active cliffs	(blank)	C Landforms
Wave-cut notch	An "undercut" or notch at the base of a cliff caused by marine erosion	(blank)	C Landforms
Wave-cut flatform	A gently sloping platform (less than 4o) at the base of the cliff, cut by marine action	(blank)	C Landfrorms
Cliff Profile	The vertical outline or cross-section of a cliff	(blank)	C Landforms
Sea Cave	Hollow cut in a cliff by marine action	e.g. limestone caves Llantwit Major	C Landforms
Sea Arch	Arch in a cliff cut by marine action	e.g. Durdle Door, Dorset	C Landform
Stack	Tall remnant of a cliff, left isolated by marine action	e.g. The Needles	C Landform
Stump	Short remnant of a cliff, left isolated by marine action	(blank)	C Landform
Geo	Steep sided inlet cut by marine action	(blank)	C Landform
Beach	The deposit of non-cohesive material on the interface between dry land and the sea	(blank)	C Landform
Beach Cusps	Small "embayments" found on beaches that channel swash to their centres, thus maintaining their form	(blank)	C Landform
Beach Profile	Vertical cross section of a beach	(blank)	C Landform
Storm Beach	A line of coarse material deposited on the upper beach during a storm	(blank)	C Landform
Berm	Ridge of coarse material on the upper beach deposited by spring tides and storms	(blank)	C Landforms
Spit	Long strip of shingle joined to the coast	This results from marine deposition	C Landforms
Bar	Offshore deposit of sand or shingle	(blank)	C Landform
Tombolo	Island linked to mainland by a depositional feature such as a spit	(blank)	C Landform
Sea Level Changes	Can be positive, negative, eustatic, isostatic	Positive (a sea level rise relative to the land), Negative ( a sea level fall relative to the land), Eustatic ( changes caused by sea volume changes ie. global warming), Isostatic (changes brought about by vertical land movements ie. melting of glaciers)	C Landform
Raised Beach	Old becah left "high and dry" by falling sea level	(blank)	C Landform
Fjord	Glacial valley drowned by sea level rise to form narrow, steep sided inlet	(blank)	C Landform
Ria	Steep sided river valley drowned by sea level rise	e.g Dartmouth	C Landform
Estuaries	Lower stretches of rivers that are tidal - often drowned by post-glacial sea level rise	e.g. Southhampton Water	C Landform