What are the four sections of the Littoral Zone?
Backshore, foreshore, nearshore, and offshore.
What is the backshore?
Above the influence of the waves, home to the storm beach and larger pebbles.
What is the foreshore?
Inter-tidal zone, where runnels and ridges form from waves.
What is the nearshore?
The breaker zone for waves, and the point where longshore bars form.
What are the short-terms factors which influence the littoral zone?
- Each wave
- daily tides
- seasonal storms
What are the long-term factors which influence the littoral zone?
- changes to sea level
- climate change.
What are the characteristics of rocky coastlines?
- resistant rocks
- high energy environments
- Western and Northern Britain
- abrupt transition from land to sea
What are the characteristics of alluvial coastlines?
- Sandy and estuarine
- less resistant rock
- low energy environments
- ## Eastern and Southern Britain
What characteristics do cliffs have if they are marine erosion dominated?
- steep face
- active undercutting
- limited cliff debris - high energy waves transferring debris.
What characteristics do cliffs have if they are sub-aerially dominated?
- curved slope profile
- lower angled face
- accumulated debris from the less dominant waves not transferring debris.
What are the characteristics of coastal plains?
- Low lying and low relief
- coastal accretion
- A state of dynamic equilibrium.
What is an example of a concordant coastline?
- Lulworth cove
- Christchurch bay
What are the three characteristics of geological structure?
- Strata - layers of rock
- Faulting - cracks in rock
- Deformation - folds and dip created in rock.
What are the further 6 features of geological structure?
- Strata
- Bedding planes
- joints
- folds
- faults
- dip
How was Lulworth cove created?
A concordant stretch of rock made of Purbeck limestone. Wave broke through this layer of rock to the Sandstone behind it. This sandstone is far less resistant to waves than the limestone. Therefore, a cove formed. The reason it’s not bigger, is because the water hit chalk at the back of the bay, which is more resistant to waves. Because the waves lose energy, they do not erode the chalk.
How was the dalmatian coast of Croatia formed?
- Limestone geology
- Anticlines and syncline basins
- Drowned basin created this dalmatian coastline of long-narrow islands.
How is a Haff coastline formed?
- Sand dunes run parallel to the coast creating haffs (Lagoons) between the coastline and ocean. They are often found on the fringes of the Baltic Sea.
What do haff coastlines, coves, and dalmatian coasts all have in common?
They are concordant coastlines.
Where and how have discordant coastlines formed?
These are layers of strata which run perpendicular to the coastline. This cerates a series of headlands and bays as more resistant rock is not eroded as quickly as more resistant rock. This has occurred in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. This has formed Rat Island.
How do waves behave around the headland of a discordant coastline?
Energy is concentrated at the headlands of the coastline, and wave energy refracts to push against this headland, therefore the most wave energy will be concentrated here. This is why the hotel in Glaros Bay in Greece decided to build at the edge of the furthest part of the bay, as less wave energy is directed here.
What is relief?
The height and slope of the land.
What affects relief?
- lithology (Characteristics of rock)
- Geology (Type of rock)
- Geological structure (The way the rock has formed)
What are the four types of strata dip?
- Horizontal
- Seaward high angle dip
- Seaward low angle dip
- Landward facing dip
How does horizontal dip impact cliff profiles?
Vertical or near vertical cliff face, with notches in strata where rock is less resistant.
