Geography Waves and Processes

Question 1

What causes waves?

Answer 1

Waves are cause by the friction of the wind on the surface of the water.

Question 2

What determines the size of a wave?

Answer 2

The amount of time the wind has been blowing, the fetch, and the strength of the wind.

Question 3

What is swash? What is backwash?

Answer 3

The movement of water and sediment up a beach is known as the swash, and the movement of water back down the beach is known as backwash.

Question 4

What are constructive waves?

Answer 4

They have strong swash and low backwash, material builds up on the beach. This gives a gentle beach.

Question 5

What are destructive waves?

Answer 5

Stronger backwash than swash, with material being eroded from the beach due to large waves, thus creating a steeper beach.

Question 6

What is geomorphology?

Answer 6

Geomorphology is the study of how our coastline changes overtime.

Question 7

What is weathering?

Answer 7

Weathering is a process that changes the structure and appearance of materials like cliffs, by how they are exposed to the atmosphere.

Question 8

What is biological weathering?

Answer 8

Plants and animals break down rock, causing biological weathering. The roots of plants and trees can get into cracks in the rock, causing them to split. Burrowing animals and worms can also weaken rock.

Question 9

What is erosion?

Answer 9

Erosion is the wearing away or breaking down of materials such as rocks.

Question 10

What is attrition?

Answer 10

Attrition is when the sea picks up angular rocks and knocks them into each other. This chips away the corners and makes them rounder.

Question 11

What is hydraulic action?

Answer 11

Hydraulic action is when the power of the wave forces water and air into cracks in the rock. This pressure forces fractures in the rock to split apart. Over time this creates faults and notches which get bigger.

Question 12

What is solution?

Answer 12

Solution is where salts or chemicals in the water act to dissolve the rocks they touch, for example limestone is dissolved by sea salt.

Question 13

What is abrasion?

Answer 13

Abrasion is where the waves pick up rocks from the sea and throw them against other rocks or cliff faces. Over time this rubs and smooths the rock, like using sandpaper.

Question 14

What is transportation?

Answer 14

Transportation is the movement of material in the sea and along the coast by waves.

Question 15

What is longshore drift?

Answer 15

Longshore drift is when sediment is transported through the water from west to east through the processes of swash and backwash.

Question 16

What is deposition?

Answer 16

Deposition is when material that is being transported is dropped by constructive waves.

Question 17

Why does deposition happen?

Answer 17

It happens when the waves have less energy, which could be because the wind is less strong, if the waves are carrying too much sediment, when the water is shallower, or when the water is in a sheltered area e.g a cove.