Coastal Zone Key Words

Front 1

Fetch

Back 1

The distance of open water over which the wind can blow

Front 2

Beach

Back 2

A deposit of sand or shingle at the coast, often found at the head of a bay

Front 3

Crest

Back 3

The top of a wave

Front 4

Swash

Back 4

The forward movement of a wave up a beach

Front 5

Backwash

Back 5

The backward movement of a wave up a beach

Front 6

Constructive wave

Back 6

A powerful wave with a strong swash that surges up a beach

Front 7

Destructive wave

Back 7

A wave formed by a local storm that crashes down onto a beach and has a powerful backwash

Front 8

Longshore drift

Back 8

When the waves approach the shore at an angle, so sediment moves along the beach in a zig - zag pattern.

Front 9

Headland

Back 9

A promontory of land jutting out into the sea

Front 10

Bay

Back 10

A broad coastal inlet often with a beach

Front 11

Wave - cut platform

Back 11

A wide, gently sloping rocky surface at the foot of a cliff.

Front 12

Wave - cut notch

Back 12

A small indentation cut into a cliff roughly at the level of high tide caused by concentrated marine erosion at this level

Front 13

Cave

Back 13

A hollowed - out feature at the base of an eroding cliff

Front 14

Arch

Back 14

A headland that has been partly broken through by the sea to form a thin -roofed arch

Front 15

Stack

Back 15

An isolated pinnacle of rock sticking out of the sea

Front 16

Spit

Back 16

A finger of new land made of sand or shingle, jutting out into the sea from the coast.

Front 17

Salt marsh

Back 17

Low lying coastal wetland mostly extending between high and low tide

Front 18

Bar

Back 18

A spit that has grown across a bay

Front 19

Shoreline Management Plan (SMP)

Back 19

An integrated coastal management plan for a stretch of coastline in England and Wales

Front 20

Hard engineering

Back 20

Building artificial structures such as sea walls aimed at controlling natural processes.

Front 21

Soft engineering

Back 21

A sustainable approach to managing the coast without using artificial structures

Front 22

Sea wall

Back 22

Concrete or rock barrier to the sea placed at the foot of cliffs or at the top of a beach. Has a curved face to reflect the waves back into the sea.

Front 23

Groynes

Back 23

Timber or rock structures built out to sea from the coast. They trap sediment being moved along by longshore drift, thereby enlarging the beach. The longer beach acts as a buffer to the incoming waves, reducing wave attack at the coast.

Front 24

Rock armour

Back 24

Pules of large boulders dumped at the foot of a cliff. The rocks force waves to break, absorbing their energy and protecting cliffs.

Front 25

Beach nourishement

Back 25

The addition of sand or shingle to an existing beach to make it higher or broader. The sediment is usually obtained locally so it blends in with the existing beach material.

Front 26

Dune regeneration

Back 26

Sand dunes are effective buffers to the sea yet they are easily damaged and destroyed, especially by trampling. Marram grass can be planted to stabilize the dunes and help them to develop. Areas can be fenced off to keep people off newly planted dunes

Front 27

Marsh creation

Back 27

This involves allowing low - lying coastal areas to be flooded by the sea to becomes sea marshes. This is an example of managed retreat. Salt marshes are effective barriers to the sea.

Front 28

Managed retreat

Back 28

Alllowing controlled flooding of low - lying coastal areas or cliff collapse in areas where the value of the land is low.