Summary
Coast Summary notes for Edexcel
- Module
- Unit 1 - Dynamic Landscapes
- Institution
- PEARSON (PEARSON)
Summary notes on content and case studies within the coast topic in Edexcel A level Geography
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ENQUIRY 1,Enquiry question 1: Why are coastal landscapes different and b. Coasts can be classified by using longer term criteria such as geology and changes of sea level or shorter
what processes cause these differences? term processes such as inputs from rivers, waves and tides.
2B.1 The coast, and wider littoral zone, has distinctive features Formation processes Primary coast ( dominated by land processes such as deposition)
and landscapes. Secondary coast ( dominated by marine processes)
a. The littoral zone consists of backshore, nearshore and Relative sea level change Emergent coasts ( coasts rising relative to sea level)
offshore zones, includes a wide variety of coastal types and is Submergent coasts (Coasts being flooded)
a dynamic zone of rapid change.
(okay now fry bananas)
Tidal change Microtidal ( 0 - 2m)
Mesotidal ( 2 - 4m)
Littoral zone: Macrotidal ( 4m+ )
Coast - land adjacent to the sea, often heavily populated and
urbanised
Wave energy Low energy ( sheltered coast, limited fetch and low wind speed)
Backshore - above high tide and only affected by waves High energy ( exposed coasts, long fetches and prevailing wind)
during exceptionally high tides and major storms
Foreshore - where wave processes occur between high and
low tide mark c. Rocky coasts (high and low relief) result from resistant geology (withstands erosive forces of sea, rain
Nearshore - Shallow water close land, this zone is used for and wind), often in a high-energy environment, whereas coastal plain landscapes (sandy and estuarine
intensive human activity like fishing coasts) are found near areas of low relief and result from supply of sediment from different terrestrial and
Offshore - open sea offshore sources, often in a low-energy environment.
Type of coasts Rocky coastline
Rocky coastline: Cliffs of varying height. Low relief is a few About 100km of the UK coastline consist of cliffs but the relief varies. Some are high relief eg. Conachair on
meters tall, high relief is a 100m. HIgh relief are made up of Hirta in the outer hebrides and some are low relief eg Chapel Porth in Cornwall
harder rocks.Rocky coasts usually form in areas of geology that High relief cliffs are made on hard rocks eg Conachair is made from granite.
is resistant to the erosive forces of the sea, rain and wind. Their
There are 2 cliff profiles:
lithology and structure means they erode and weather slowly Marine erosion: dominated by wave, cliff tends to be steep,active undercutting,little cliff base debris( as it is
erodes and quickly carried away by the waves)
Coastal plains: low lying,low relief area close to land. Contains Sub aerial process: cliffs not being actively eroded have curved profile and lower relief, subaerial process
wetland and marshes because its just above sea level. They slowly move rocks and sediment downwards where the debris accumulate
are made through coastal accretion,which is deposition of
sediment . They are low energy environment expect on rare Coastal plains (sandy and estuarine coastline)
occasions. Are low lying,low relief areas close to the coast and many contain wetlands and marshes because they are
just above sea level and are poorly drained cause of the flatness. They can form as a result of a fall in sea
level exposing the seabed orvia coastal accretion where the coastline gradually moved seawards
, 2B.2 Geological structure influences the development of coastal landscapes at a c. Geological structure (jointing, dip, faulting, folding) is an important influence
variety of scales. on coastal morphology and erosion rates, and also on the formation of cliff
profiles and the occurrence of micro-features, e.g. caves (Glamorgan Heritage
a. Geological structure is responsible for the formation of concordant and discordant Coast).
coasts.
b. Geological structure influences coastal morphology: Dalmatian and Haff type Factors that affect cliff profile and rate of erosion
concordant coasts and headlands and bays on discordant coasts.
Coastal morphology: Shape and form, of coastal landscape and their features Dip: the angle of rock strata in relation to the horizontal, which can be tiled by
Strata: the different layers of rock exposed in a cliff plate tectonic forces, effecting it’s cliff profile
Wave refraction: Concentrate powerful waves at headland (means more erosion) and
create lower,wave crest in the bay reducing erosion Horizontal dip : creates a steep cliffs
Seaward dip,high angle :
Geological Concordant: Discordant:
Seaward dip,low angle
structure when rock strata run parallel to form when different rock strata are
Causes different Landward dip
types of coasts
the coastline perpendicular to the coastline ,so
geology varies along coastline
Faults : major weakness within rock layers ( rocks are fractured or broken)
Joints: fractures in rocks, diving rock strata up into blocks
Landform Haff coastlines: Headlands and Bays: more resistant Fissures: smaller cracks in rocks
They are a type of concordant geology remain as headlands Folding: bending of the strata
coast found in the southern baltic protruding into the sea (eg. west cork
coastline. Long ridges of mud coast in ireland) Weak rocks been Micro Features are caves and wave cut platforms
and sand form parallel to the eroded to create bays
shorelines,with a lagoon behind
them Headlands are eroded more than bays
and this smooths the coastline overtime
Dalmatian coastline:
concordant coast where the sea This due to wave refraction:
has flooded the landscape,of Wave crest are parallel and as wave
alternating hills and valley, to approach the headlands it slows down
create long bays and parallel and wave height increases (wave
hilly island energy converges in the headland) .
The wave crest then curves to fill the
bay and it’s height and energy
decreases
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