Summary Geography AQA GCSE, Paper 1: Topic 3; Rivers and Coasts
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Course
Geography
Institution
GCSE
Geography AQA GCSE
All content in the last third of Paper one Content.
Everything you need to know about Rivers and coasts, with adequate detail.
Includes case studies and visual guides.
Rivers and Coasts
Coast- the interaction of the land and sea, around 2 miles either way
Waves- the movements of energy through a medium.
Sea waves are formed by blowing to the sea’s surfaces. The wind pushes down on the water’s
surface, which bounces back. The wind can now push the wave forward.
Fetch- the total amount of open water that the wind can push a wave.
3 things that determine the size of a wave:
- Fetch
- Wind speed
- Duration of wind
Parts of a wave:
(Wave height- trough to peak)
Swash- movement of waves up the beach
Backwash- the movement of waves back down the
beach
Constructive waves:
- Long wavelength
- Relatively low height compared to the
wavelength
- Few wavers per minute(<8) - small frequency
- More swash than backwash
- Builds beaches
Destructive waves:
- Short wavelength
- High height
- Many waves per minute (>8)- high frequency
- More backwash than swash
- Destroys beaches
Longshore drift:
1. Prevailing wind pushes waves towards the beach at an angle
2. The waves break at an angle- the swash pushes materials up the beach at an angle
3. Backwash comes back down the beach at 90° as it has no energy
, 4. Over time, this process moves material along the beach. The lightest material moving
the farthest and fastest.
5. Over time, the beach will become curved. This is known as longshore drift (LSD)
Weathering: the erosion in situ (in place)
Occurs via:
- Biological attack- animals e.g. badgers e.g. dig holes
- Tree roots- exceptionally good at pushing down through soil and rock.
- Precipitation- rain water is naturally slightly acidic, which can erode some rock types e.g.
limestone and chalk
- Freeze thaw- water enters a crack and freezes. As ice forms, it expands by 9%. This
needs to happen thousands of times to cause any real collapses
- Onion skin weathering- the sun heats the surface of a rock, which becomes hotter than
the centre. The top layer attempts to expand and fractures, removing a few mm. This
repeats at a slow rate for very minimal erosion.
Mass movement- the collapse under large amounts of coastline
Types of mass movement at the coast:
- A rockfall- fragments of rock
break away from the cliff
face, often due to freeze-
thaw weathering
- Landslide- blacks or rock
slide downhill
- Mudflow- saturated soil and
weak rock flows down a
slope
- Rotational slip- slump of
saturated soil and weak rock
along a curved surface
Erosion: the weathering away of something
Types of erosion (HPAAC- happy philips always attacks children):
- Hydraulic Power- the weight of water crashing into cliffs. 1m^3 of H20 = 1 tonne
(1000kg). Cavitation- water forces air into the cracks, which pressurises the rock
- Attrition- two stones collide, wearing both away
- Abrasion- The wearing away of the cliff as stones are flung against it
- Corrosion- acidity of salty water corrodes (dissolves) salt water
Transportation of rocks (TSSS):
- Traction- stones roll
Erosional landforms
(Mainly hydraulic power, abrasion and corrosion)
Wave Cut Notch (WCN):
1. Hydraulic power, abrasion and some corrosion attack the cliff
2. Where the rock type is resistant, a wave cut notch is created
3. Overtime the wave notch deepens until the weight of the rock above collapses
Crack, Cave, Arch, Stack, Stump
Landforms of deposition:
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