Coastal Processes

Front 1

This often involves destructive waves wearing away the coast. There are five main processes which cause coastal erosion. These are corrasion, abrasion, hydraulic action, attrition and corrosion/solution. Corrasion is when waves pick up beach material (e.g. pebbles) and hurl them at the base of a cliff.

Back 1

Hydraulic action is erosion that occurs when the motion of water against a rock surface produces mechanical weathering. Most generally, it is the ability of moving water (flowing or waves) to dislodge and transport rock particles.

Front 2

Transportation is the movement of material in the sea and along the coast by waves. The movement of material along the coast is called longshore drift.

Back 2

In geography, the term "solution" describes the process of rock formations, such as limestone, being dissolved in a river setting. The chemical process that occurs is one in which carbon dioxide in the presence of water forms carbonic acid that dissolves limestone.

Front 3

Longshore drift. Waves that hit the beach at an angle carry sand and gravel up the beach face at an angle. When the water washes back the sediment is carried straight back down the beach face. Individual particles are moved along the beach in a zig zag pattern.

Back 3

Transport geography, also transportation geography, is a branch of geography that particularly investigates the movement of and connections between people, goods or information on the Earth's surface.

Front 4

A spit or sandspit is a deposition bar or beach landform found off coasts or lake shores. It develops in places where re-entrance occurs, such as at a cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drift by longshore currents.

Back 4

A bar is very similar to a spit. It is a ridge of sand or shingle which forms across the mouth of a river, the entrance to a bay or harbour. It is usually parallel to the coast. Bay. A wide indentation into the land by the sea, protected on each side by a headland.