Coasts

Coasts

Erosional processes
1. Hydraulic action
  1. Force of water hitting the cliffs and squeezing air into the cracks. this causes the cracks to grow
2. Abrasion
  1. Force of the bits of rock carried in the water hitting the cliff
3. Attrition
  1. Process of rocks hitting each other and breaking into smaller rocks
4. Corrosion
  1. Chemical reaction between the sea and the rocks
Wave cut platforms
1. 1) Formed when destructive waves hit the cliff face
2. 2) The cliff is undercut between the low and high water marks
3. 3) This creates a notch, this develops into a platform.
Cliffs
1. 1) Shaped by erosion and weathering
2. Soft rock (sand and clay) create gently sloped cliffs
3. Hard rock (chalk) creates steep cliffs as it erodes slower
4. 2) The weather weakens the top of the cliff. and the sea attacks the base forming a notch.
5. 3) The notch grows and causes the cliff to collapse.
Deposition
1. When the sea loses energy on the beach it drops the material it has been carrying.
2. Happens when the swash is stronger than the backwash.
3. Likely to happen when:
  1. Waves enter an area of shallow water
  2. Waves enter a sheltered area, eg a cove or bay and there is little wind
  3. When there is a good supply of material.
Spits
1. Formed when Longshore drift moves material along the coast
2. Overtime the spit grows and when the wind direction changes a hook is formed
3. Waves cannot pass the spit, this creates a sheltered are where material is deposited, salt marshes form
Beaches
1. Made up of eroded material that has been transported from elsewhere and dumped by the sea.
2. Constructive waves help to build up beaches.
Longshore drift
1. 1) Prevailling wind pushes the swash at an angle up the beach
2. 2) Due to gravity the backwash rushes down the beach, taking the sand with it
3. Groynes help prevent it as the form a barrier to prevent the material moving

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	Created by Jemima Matthews almost 10 years ago