Coastal Processes

Question 1

What is the Littoral zone?

Answer 1

Series of subzones to represent features of wider coastline sea to land

Contains
Offshore, nearshore, foreshore, and backshore

Question 2

What are the in/out puts of the littoral zone?

Answer 2

sediment is a key output determined by inputs:
action of waves. current and winds
Outputs: washed out into sea by erosion

Question 3

What are high energy coasts?

Answer 3

have destructive waves: long fetches, High erosion, caves arch stacks stumps and cliffs

Question 4

What are low energy coasts?

Answer 4

Constructive waves,
shorter fetches, higher rates of deposition
Spits and bars

Question 5

What are the characteristics of a cliffed coast?

Answer 5

• the cliffs are vertical and the cliff angles can be much lower
• at low tide foreshore exposed-rocky platform
• transition land/sea abrupt

Question 6

What are sandy coastlines?

Answer 6

• sand dunes are fringe
• high tide- sandy beach is flooded
• vegetated dunes are not

Question 7

What does dune vegetation prevent?

Answer 7

Makes sure that the coasts are stabilised and helps to prevent erosion.

Question 8

What is a estuarine coastline?

Answer 8

• found at mouths of rivers
• extemsive mudflats cut by channels
• exposed at low tide covered at high tide
• close to backshore